


Another glitch

by SANS_TITRE



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: (hopefully not too obvious), Action/Adventure, Blood and Injury, Coding, Direct consequences of canon, Ethical Dilemmas, Fights, Friendly Conversations, Gossip, Lies, Manipulation, Multi, Mystery, Plot Twists, Post-Canon, Racing, Ralph doesn't deserve this, Ralph versus Zangief, Sugar Rush is badly damaged, Vanellope is a badass, Violence, War, debates, glitch - Freeform, poor guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-26 22:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SANS_TITRE/pseuds/SANS_TITRE
Summary: Only five weeks after the catastrophic Turbo events, things are going wild once again in Litwak's arcade. The discovery of another glitch in Sugar Rush unfolds a sea of new possibilities. But should they use the new powers that this error grants them, or shut everything down before it's too late?Ralph has to pick a side, but whichever way he goes, things aren't going to be easy.





	1. Discovering new seas

For some reason, Ralph had never expected that going Turbo would make him famous in any way. He had been busy thinking about medals, giant bugs, candy and generally feeling awful about himself. He had unleashed a whole swarm of murderous insects inside Sugar Rush, and fixed his mistake at the last minute. With so much to think about, he hadn't realized that he had been the main character of an incredible adventure.

In only a few days, the story had traveled through about every game in the arcade, if possible, and the characters were _hungry_ for details.  
Ralph didn’t mind giving them away, even though most were embarrassing. But after two weeks, the constant attention, the constant remarks started to bear on him quite heavily.  
The core problem was one question. Tapper had been the first one to voice it, before it spread like a disease and tore people apart.  
You could phrase it in many different ways, but Ralph liked the simplest.

Had he done good?

Leaving his game, going Turbo, (regardless of the outcome) – had it been a good thing or a bad one?  
Hell, he had no idea. He had just felt sad and had seen an opportunity that could potentially improve his situation. The rest had gone too fast to even think about, and the terror of the end had prevented him from wanting to experience it ever again.  
But before did it « going Turbo » was considered one of the biggest crimes one could ever commit. Probably the biggest crime that had been comitted altogether. And then, this dude that nobody really cared about had done it again, saved a little girl’s life and killed Turbo himself, but also nearly murdered said little girl by destroying Sugar rush.  
People didn’t know what to make of it. You couldn’t just commit the biggest crime and then sacrifice your own life to save a little girl and her world in just two days. It didn’t make sense.  
The game characters were so excited, even the human kids started noticing things. The games seemed « brighter », as if the protagonists were excited to perform their duties – more than usual at any rate. The race cars were faster, the fighters kicked harder, everything was out of control.  
It was almost a historical moment. For the first time in nearly thirty years, something was really happening.  
And Ralph was right in the middle of the attention.  
He was both the greatest hero and the most dangerous fool. Everyone had their eyes on him.  
Yet he hardly even realized he was such a popular attraction. So much was going on in his life! Felix and Calhoun getting married, but mostly Vanellope experiencing her newfound freedom by visiting other games. He loved to come with her on every trip she would have in mind. Life was incredibly different when you had a best friend.

Such were the settings for the adventure that is about to unfold before your eyes. It is important that you understand why things were, in fact, the way they were. Otherwise the following events would hardly make sense.

A thin chain of events was starting to build around Ralph, and it would lead him to great suffering. He would have to face dangers beyond his imagination. He would be betrayed, assaulted, criticized, mocked, belittled, knocked down. And all because of an innocent remark, once again.

Four weeks after… let’s call it "the Turbo disaster". Vanellope and him had visited about every game in the arcade. It had been a bad day for the both of them – it happens. Vanellope, being the greatest racer of her game, was rather hard to beat. So when she would eventually lose… the other racers would make sure she knew the taste of defeat. If she could choke on it, that was always a plus.  
For a candy-themed world, Sugar rush could be surprisingly bitter.  
As for Ralph, he simply had a headache. Not that much of a bother, but still annoying.  
They both ended up at Tapper’s, watching people drink silently.

‘Have you ever felt like, the arcade is a small place?’ Ralph asked after a few minutes of silence.

‘Whadya mean?’

‘Well, it’s like… I’ve been here for thirty years, right, you know this. And even though games change and stuff, sometimes I feel a bit… y’know… what’s the word for people who don’t like closets?’

‘… do you actually mean claustrophobic?’

‘Yeah, claustro...thing. Like, I don’t really know. Even though today’s games are bigger and bigger, sometimes it feels like… it’s just… so easy to get everything covered. You get me? And then there’s just nothing else and you don’t know what to do.’

Any other day, Vanellope would have just made fun of Ralph right there, and that would have been it. But it had been a rather terrible day, so she just nodded.

‘But hey, we’re still lucky to even have games, I ain’t complaining. I just felt like sharing, for some reason.’

‘Nah, it’s cool, I get it. You’ll feel better tomorrow I bet.’

‘Same for you, kid.’

At any other time, this little conversation would have been easily forgotten – not that it mattered all that much anyway.  
But they were _Ralph_ and _Vanellope_ , the closest equivalent the arcade had to celebrities. Their conversation was overheard, repeated, amplified, and surely enough, the next day, between two wreckings of the Nicelander’s building, Felix came by next to Ralph and asked :

‘So. I heard you were feeling claustrophobic?’

And it was almost like a new trend – needless to say it was a new point of debate. For the pro-Ralph, it was an example of his great wisdom, for the anti-Ralph something to prove he was nothing but a selfish manbaby.  
It was all getting awfully tiring. Ralph tried to laugh it off. Actually, he was worried that people would think he was ungrateful for his situation, when truly, he wasn’t. Vanellope told him to ignore the blabber and they went off to break some blocks in Tetris.  
The fifth week was when things started going wrong. The arcade was closed. Vanellope was hosting the traditionnal night race, while Ralph was strolling in Sugar rush. He was quite fond of the place, though he would never admit it. He still kept a strong distate for the taffy swamps, for almost drowning in one of them, but he liked the candy trees, the chocolate montains, the ice-cream snow. The place made him feel safe.  
As he was dodging the chocolate pool, he thought he noticed something in the distance. Barely a flicker, accompanied by an electric noise. He squinted, unsure of what he had just seen. He walked towards it, but saw nothing. Almost convinced that it had been some trick of the light, he was about to shrug and go away, when he noticed something else. For some moment he wondered if his eyes weren’t damaged. It seemed that the fabric of the world was somehow torn. Something in the air was blurring his vision. It was like looking through a prism, but without the prism (as dumb as this may sound).  
It was also incredibly hard to notice. The distortion was only visible from certain angles. You could easily walk past it, or even run into it without noticing.  
Well, couldn’t you? He drew an enormous finger, and tapped the thing. The sensation was incredibly odd. It was as if it had been raining on his finger. He tried to push further ; the thing unfolded like a curtain.  
Now it was getting worrying. He had a hard time even understanding what was happening before his own eyes. He had to use simple images so that his brain could process what it had just witnessed.  
It was like tearing a paper sheet, but the sheet was the world. And beyond, was…  
Nothing. Or everything? A see of zeros and ones. An infinite sea of zeros and ones. It was both scary and fascinating.  
He stepped inside, and released the sheet. There was no floor of any kind in this dimension, yet he was not falling. He was not exactly flying either – he was just… weirdly standing on nothingness.

‘A floor would be nice,’ he said for himself.

A blurry square of grass appeared underneath him. His feet landed safely on the surface.  
‘ _What the… what even is this place ?’_  
He thought for a second.

‘I want a drink.’

A glass of water appeared before him. He seized it and drank. It tasted awful.  
He dropped the glass, and noticed the ground was slowly fading. He suddenly felt worried. He was alone in an eternal field of nothingness. He needed to escape. But how? He could no longer find the tearing he had first grabbed to enter the dimension. He tried to swim towards it, but crossed right through, and felt nothing. His heart started beating faster. What if he was trapped forever? He cried for help, yelling at the top of his lungs. The sea around him somehow looked darker. He was seeing shadows in the distance – giant bugs, wolves, monsters. He could hear strange noises too. Voices of people he knew, mixed with with the general buzzing of cy-bugs.  
The creatures were getting nearer.

‘Shield!’ He squeaked, to terrified to shout.

A tiny shield appeared in his right hand. A bug was getting nearer. He tried to swim away from it, but was to slow. He felt a sharp leg piercing his shirt. The sensation was oddly cold. He replied with a massive kick from his left foot, and spun around in order to face the creatures.  
There were thousands of them. Bugs of all kinds, with the faces of people he knew : Vanellope, Felix, Calhoun, the nicelanders, and even Turbo. He was breathing fast, but somehow the sight of such horror comforted him. It was so absurdly terrifying that none of it could actually be true.  
His shield got bigger, and a sword appeared in his left hand. The bugs, in comparison, seemed to shrink on the spot.  
Ralph charged with an angry roar. He was terrible with a sword, and his clumsy strike didn’t do much damage. However it didn’t seem all that necessary. The bugs were fading by themselves, and soon enough it felt like they had never been there.  
The dimension was empty again.

‘So wait, did I make these things appear?’ Ralph suddenly asked.

Obviously nobody answered him, but it was worth questionning. Could it be that his anxiety had triggered the appearance of these monsters, as a response to a state of being? That was crazy.

‘Could I get an exit?’ He asked, hopefully.

A big door with the world « exit » appeared before him. He opened it, went through it, and found himself in the exact same dimension.

‘Ah, should have know it’d never be that simple.’

He had to find a new idea and quickly, before fear consumed him again. He looked around once more. Nothing new. Things were getting darker again, but no monsters were to be seen.  
Yet.

‘C’mon, c’mon, where was this stupid entrance?’

He heard the sound again. Quickly, before the glitch vanished, he threw his hand towards it. The fabric of space tore again, he kicked hard and landed safely on the floor of sugar rush, breathing heavily.

‘Sweet mother of poisonous milk, Ralph, what the hell are you doing?’

Ralph was so startled he almost jumped.

‘Kid, don’t scare me like that!’ He shouted, a hand on his torso.

Vanellope jumped down from the tree she had been standing on, and onto his shoulder.

‘Ralph.’

‘Yes, I believe that’s me.’

‘Where have you been? I looked all over for you, and when I least expect it, you pop out of nowhere like there’s no big deal! Are you a glitch now, should I assume your code has been wrecked?’

‘Calm down kid, I’ll explain… hell, I don’t even know if I can...’

‘What do you mean, calm down? This is so exciting, if you’ve got new tricks, you have to show me!’

She looked right into his eyes and smiled, but when shen noticed he was still shaken from the experience, she frowned.

‘Or don’t if that makes you uncomfortable, I guess. We all have our secrets after all.’

‘Nah, I’ll talk, just… give me a moment.’

He sat, and passed a hand in his hair. Vanellope wondered how different her life would be if her hands were that big, and then chased the thought away because it was too disturbing.

‘Okay so. Kid. Do you want me to go straight to the point or should I sugar-coat it?’

‘C’mon Ralph, do you even know who you’re talking to?’

‘The sugar princess?’

‘Precisely. There’s more than enough sugar around the place without you adding any more, so just hit me with the truth already!’

‘Your game is glitched, Vanellope.’

Her smile melted like an ice-cream exposed to the sunlight.

‘What? Where? What did you see?’

And then after a pause :

‘You think it’s my fault?’

Ralph blinked. He hadn’t thought of that.

‘How would I know? I think you should come inside and see for yourself.’

He opened the curtain once again – he had marked the right spot in his mind. It was more visible after being opened and closed twice, it seemed. Maybe he should worry about that.  
Vanellope seemed intrigued.

‘That’s where you’ve been? What even is that?’

A second later she was inside, swimming carelessly around, while Ralph watched her anxiously from the entrance.

‘Okay, so what’s the big whoop about this place, other than it exists?’ She eventually asked. ‘It’s just and eternal sea of nothingness. Boring.’

Ralph joined her inside, keeping the curtain between two fingers.

‘You want to know? All right, brace yourself.’

He closed his eyes, feeling that this would require concentration somehow. Vanellope eyed him curiously. He had about ten seconds before her attention would shift to something else.

‘I want to see… a road. And a race car. A shiny one,’ He stated calmly.

This time, when the road appeared, it was a bit more than a sad square, but it looked as blurry as before. The race car in itself looked barely functionnal. It shone brightly however. A bit too much perhaps.

‘Holy candy cane!’ The little girl exclaimed. ‘How did you even do that? Wait no, don’t tell me, I wanna try too! Now, let’s see… world, give me cake!’

The saddest cake Ralph had ever seen appeared in the middle of the road. It looked neither pretty nor appetizing.

‘Hey, why is it so ugly? Did I ask for a sad cake? Did I stutter? C’mon, at least add frosting on that thing! Ralph, why is it doing that?’

‘Kid, I discovered this dimension minutes ago! Though I’m flattered if you already consider me an expert,’ he added with a smile.

‘Don’t get your hopes up, stinkbrain, it’s just that you’re all I’ve got!’

‘Well, I think it depends on how concentrated you are. Maybe you really need to picture it precisely? Oh, by the way it doesn’t last long.’

The road was already fading. He thought _‘I want it more solid’_ , and suddenly it was.  
Now that was interesting.  
Vanellope seemed to have reached the same conclusion. She hadn’t said anything, but the cake looked bigger, brighter, and incredibly tasty.

‘Ralph, that’s so crazy… we can wish for anything and it just… appears! You’re thinking what I’m thinking?’

‘Worst thing is, I think I do.’

Vanellope materialized a snowball and threw it at his face. Ralph made no movement to avoid it, and it landed on his nose.

‘Yep. I was right.’

‘Ah, it’s a shame. Nine year old and already so predictable!’

She didn’t seem to be bothered too much, however.

‘But man, this place is crazy! Just think about all the problems we can solve if we show it to everyone!’

Ralph had thought about it. The possibilities seemed endless. He had concerns however.

‘Kid, I don’t want to ruin your fun, but maybe we shouldn’t use it too much. What if it endangers your game?’

‘You care that much about Sugar rush?’

‘I almost destroyed it once.’

‘True enough. Well, actually I think you’re right. We should be careful with this thing. Aren’t there any glitch experts in this arcade?’

‘That would be you.’

‘Ah, man, do I have to do _everything_?’  
Ralph thought about this for a second.

‘I’ll ask Felix,’ he decided. ‘He and Calhoun will know what to do.’

Vanellope eyed him curiously. It was something she had noticed over time. Whenever a danger arose, Ralph never trusted himself to be capable of solving the prolem by himself. That was probably for the best because he usually wasn’t. But it was strange that his thoughts always ran towards Felix in these instants. Vanellope _liked_ Felix, but he wasn’t the brightest lad she knew. Very nice and all, but not very observant.  
But he was the good guy in Ralph’s game – and that probably meant something to him. How would she know? Her game didn’t really have a bad guy, and therefore didn’t have a good one either.  
They both exited the dimension, and as Vanellope’s thoughts were on Felix, she saw him in the mist of zeros and ones, yet his face looked somewhat… twisted. Wrong.  
She wondered why, then shrugged and followed Ralph outside.


	2. An Alarming Discovery

The next day, Ralph woke up in his little shack, not expecting the day to be special in any way. He went out to say hello to Felix and the nicelanders, only to find his game completly deserted. There was still some time before the Arcade's opening, so he took the train and headed towards game central station. He hopped out of the tiny cart, and looked at the station in amazement. It was overcrowded with characters from all types of games ; everyone seemed to be talking about something, or rather arguing, sometimes violently.

He took a step forward, intending to ask someone what was going on, when he was interrupted by a beeping noise.

'Ah,' he sighed. 'Almost forgot the _random_ security check.'

'I'm just a Surge protector doing my job, sir. Name?'

'I'm pretty sure you can answer that question by yourself, buddy.'

'Name.'

'Wreck-it Ralph!'

'Where are you coming from?'

'Fix-it Felix junior... where else?'

'And where are you headed?'

'Uuh... I don't know? Like, can I get a minute to think about it?'

'Anything to declare?'

'Yes, actually. Everybody seems pretty agitated today, has someone been unplugged?'

For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, he felt he had caught the Surge protector's attention. He looked away from his notes and around him.

'Golly! What has gotten into them?'

'I'll never know if you don't let me pass.'

'Sure, you're free to go.'

And on that last comment, he vanished.

'All right...' Ralph muttered. 'Now to find Vanellope.'

He didn't have time to get this far. After only a few steps, he found himself blocked by sergeant Calhoun. She looked irritable (but when did she not) ; her fingers were tapping on the side of her massive blaster that she was holding with two hands.

'I've found him,' she shouted, loud enough for everybody to hear.

The central station suddenly grew silent, and every face turned towards Ralph.

'Well this is... okay, what have I done this time?' He asked, cheeks flushing red with embarrasment.

'You have a few explanations to provide,' Calhoun explained.

'Ah right, we'd be delighted to hear what you have to say!'

Ralph recognized Deanna from the nicelanders. Gene nodded in appreciation. A dozen characters added comments of the same kind.

'You'd better have a solid excuse!'

'Explain yourself at least.'

'Why would he do this?'

He finally spotted Vanellope among the crowd. She was staring directly at him, but made no gesture to come any closer to him. Her face was a mixture of curiosity and sadness.

His anger suddenly rose. What were all these brats trying to say? Couldn't they be little clearer?

'Well, spit it out, for hell's sake! What do I even have to explain?'

He had been a bit louder than intended. Calhoun only extended an arm, pointing at something. He frowned, and tried to follow the direction. After close examination, he realized something had been painted on the floor, in huge red letters.

**Do you feel out of place?**

**Does the arcade feel too small?**

**Are you tired of reliving the same story every day?**

**Are you tired of humans?**

He felt a drop of cold sweat run down his back. This was bad news. But it wasn't over yet.

**Join us.**

**Follow the path to the underground caves in Sugar Rush.**

**Unlock the glitch.**

**A world of endless possibilities lies ahead.**

Ralph winced. How? How could this have happened so fast? Someone must have been spying on him when he opened the curtain the day before. It had to be it. What else could "unlocking the glitch" mean? 

His thoughts ran towards Vanellope. He turned around, and sure enough, she was still staring at him. Her face was unreadable.

Ralph suddenly remembered he was supposed to provide explanations. But why him? He could not believe for a second that Vanellope could have accused him of writing this message.

But then he remembered, and grunted in frustration. Why did he have to be so stupid? He had been the one to complain about the arcade being to small, and had earned a reputation of being claustrophobic. Who to expect this kind of message from?

'Guys,' he started awkwardly. 'This is just a big misunderstanding! I don't know who wrote this message, but I swear it ain't me.'

He was sweating profusely. No one said anything for some time, but he knew he only sounded like a bad liar.

'Felix reported that this looked a lot like your handwriting,' Calhoun eventually added.

Ralph stared for a moment at the clumsy letters. It did ressemble his handwriting a bit. But when could Felix have seen it? Oh right, he had repaired Vanellope's kart, twice, and his name was signed on the side. Talk about bad luck.

'It may look like it, but I didn't write this, I swear, guys I don't even know what this means, please...'

'Ralph, I don't want to be mean, but you are the prime suspect on this one', Clyde said with a sigh. 

'Yeah, he went Turbo once! We can't trust him!'

That one was from Bowser. A few people nodded in agreement, but others seemed to dismiss it. This was probably what they had been arguing about before he arrived.

Calhoun shot at the roof once, in order to shut everyone up once.

'All right, ladies, shut you chew holes before I get angry and slap someone. We don't have time to interrogate Ralph for now, the arcade's about to open. Just run to your games, and we'll start inquiries tonight. Understood?

Nobody ever argued with sergeant Calhoun, but Ralph could tell some were more than unhappy to obey. Tamora waited for everyone to go away before she seized Ralph by his collar, and whispered :

'Now you. I don't know if you're actually linked to this ridiculous poetic nonsense, but my instinct tells me this whole affair is gonna get ugly pretty soon. _Distinctively_ ugly. So if you happen to be the cause of all this, and you _lied_ , I'm gonna fry you personnaly and have a cy-bug eat the remains of your corpse. Did I make myself clear?'

'All clear m'aam,' he squeaked.

She left him standing there and rushed towards Hero's duty's entrance.

Ralph found himself alone in the station. He was about to head back to his game when he noticed Vanellope. She glitched towards him, apparently looking for something to say.

'You didn't tell anyone about the weird thing we saw yesterday, did you?' She eventually asked.

'I was going to, but I forgot,' he admitted. 'But I suppose I won't have a choice tonight. 'Did _you_ tell anyone?'

'Who do you think I am? No, I didn't. So, you know what that means.'

'Yeah, of course. Totally. What does that mean?'

She sighed.

'There was no one around us yesterday, I would have seen them. So it either means one of us is lying, or that someone else found the opening we found yesterday, and wrote the message on the floor.'

'Or there are multiple entrances!' Ralph added helpfully.

'Either way this is bad news.'

She looked both confused and annoyed.

'Good luck,' she said before running towards Sugar Rush's entrance.

'Yeah, and to you too, kid!'

Luck, huh. If he could trust Calhoun's instinct, he was going to need it.


	3. Investigations

The work day went without any other surprise. Ralph kept dropping bricks in the wrong places - at some point he almost fell off the building. He was so nervous that it was hard to concentrate.

After work, Calhoun and Felix escorted him to Hero's duty, making it as obvious as possible that he was in trouble. He kept his eyes down, feeling his stomach tighten. They lead him into the tower, in one of the ruined offices. It was strange to see the place so calm, and not swarming with giant murderous bugs.

Calhoun and Felix sat in chairs, but Ralph kept stood up, afraid he would break one if he tried to sit on it. He wished Vanellope had been here with him.

'Oh come on, don't give me the puppy eyes,' Calhoun blurted, rolling her eyes. 'We all make mistakes. Just tell us what you did, and we'll fix it.'

Felix smiled, but he didn't add anything. Ralph clenched his fists, feeling a slight bitter taste at the back of his mouth. This was almost worse than being shouted at.

'Guys, I didn't lie. It was not me.'

Calhoun frowned, looking as if she was about to say something, but he interrupted her.

'There is something I didn't tell you though! I wanted to, but I forgot. Vanellope and I discovered something in Sugar Rush yesterday, and I think it's probably linked to this case.'

'And... what was it?' Felix asked, softly.

Ralph scratched the back of his head.

'Well, I _could_ tell you, but i'd be easier to just _show_ you...'

***

For a moment, Ralph almost believed he wouldn't find the entrance again. He had spotted it by pure chance the first time, and his visual memory wasn't flawless. But it was pretty easy considering the entrance had widened. He winced. The glitch was indeed spreading. He opened the curtain once more, trying to be delicate despite his monstrous hands.

'Here ya go. Onward. It's pretty safe, don't worry. Me and the kid have been inside already.'

'But there's no ground!' Felix exclaimed, startled.

'Nah, but it doesn't matter because once you're in there you float. I can make a ground appear though, if you like...'

Tamora had already jumped inside. She seemed surprised for a second, and then swam a bit in order to take a look. Felix followed her cautiously.

What d'you think?' Ralph asked. 'Pretty neat, huh?'

He kept near the entrance to hold the curtain open.

'And what's crazy about this place is that you can make anything appear at will! See, if I want, say, a brick... well, look, here it is!'

A brown brick had appeared from nowhere and was floating lazily around Felix's head.

'Now _that's_ interesting,' Tamora whispered.

'Unbelievable,' Felix said. 'We must be in the dimension where games are built from code...'

A golden hammer appeared in his left hand. He was so shocked that he dropped it.

'Oh yeah, you don't have to say it out loud,' Ralph laughed. 'You can just think of something you like and suddenly it's here! But let me warn you, it takes a lot of concentration to make something pretty. At first, our creations were rather lame, 'nellope and I. Well, maybe it's just us, for all I know...'

Calhoun had already made a set of guns appear all around her. She tried to fire them, but none seemed to really work properly.

'All right, I see,' she eventually stated. 'That's probably what the weirdo message was referring to.'

'The one on the central station's floor?'

'Yes. It matches the description close enough anyway.'

'Can we get out of here?' Felix asked. 'This place gives me a really bad feeling. I don't like it.'

He shivered, and swam towards Ralph. The wrecker caught him with one hand and placed him steadily on his feet outside. The sergeant followed him, and Ralph closed the curtain.

She seemed to be thinking.

'Felix? Think you can close that gate with your magic hammer?'

'I suppose I can try.'

He dug into his belt and got the hammer out. Ralph pointed at where he was supposed to hit. Felix did so, but the hammer went though the glitch as if it hadn't been there. He tried again and again, but nothing happened.

'I'm sorry ma'am, it's not working properly!'

He sounded distressed, almost on the verge of tears.

'Felix, calm down, it's all right, we'll find another solution.'

He nodded, unable to speak. Ralph raised an eyebrow, wondering if something was bothering him.

Tamora pulled him in for a hug. She probably knew what was wrong, Ralph figured. He made a mental note to ask him later.

'Wait, I have an idea!' He suddenly blurted. 'Remember the path Turbo used to access this game's code? We can take the same road he used, find the source of this glitch and fix it from there!'

'That... could work,' Felix conceded.

'No.'

Both men looked at Calhoun in surprise.

'Not so soon,' she corrected. 'It would be a way to solve our current problem, granted, but we wouldn't catch the instigators. If another breach appears somewhere else we'd be powerless to stop them.'

'What do you suggest then?' Ralph asked, afraid it would involve hard work.

'I'm going to answer the paint message's call. I'll infiltrate their little mysterious organization. And once I have a clear idea of who are the actual culprits, I'll denounce them.'

'Tammy, that's too dangerous!' Felix protested.

'I'm not going to say "danger is my middle name" because that's awfully cliché but you get the idea.'

'Right, right,' Ralph interrupted them, embarrassed. 'But that's the problem, isn't it? You have a bit of a reputation in the arcade... whoever those guys are, they won't trust you so easily. And in the meantime, the breach could expand and possibly damage Sugar Rush.'

'That's true. You got another idea? I'm all ears.'

'I do,' Felix said. 'I'll go with Tammy. While these guys'll be busy suspecting her, I can gain their trust and denounce them afterwards! Meanwhile, Ralph can watch over the breach. This way, if it expands too much, he can warn us and we give up on the mission before it's too late.'

'That's a smart idea,' Tamora agreed. 'This way, Ralph could also prevent anybody else from getting in by inadvertance.'

Ralph frowned.

'But Felix... I know you're good at befriending... anyone basically. But are you good at lying? Have you even lied once?'

'If it's for the sake of justice, I'll do my best!'

'Don't worry about him,' Calhoun added. 'Whatever happens, I'll be watching. Concealing weapons is easier than it looks.'

'Okay, I guess. I you're confident this could work, I'll play my part. How long do you reckon this'll take?'

'Hard to tell. I reckon two or three days, wost case scenario. I don't imagine these guys to be real smart. If we're lucky, it'll all be over before you know it.'

The conversation ended there. They agreed it was time for them to sleep for a bit. But as they reached game central station once again, another message had appeared on the floor. This time it read :

**Thank you to all the people who joined.**

**Together, we can change the fate of this world.**

**Saturday night, our creation will be complete.**

**Join us. There is still time.**

'This time you can all agree that it wasn't me!' Ralph said anxiously.

'Shut up, Wreck-it!' Calhoun snapped.

Two hooded figures had just disappeared at the entrance of Street Fighter. She dashed after them, leaving the two men alone.

'What was that?' Ralph asked, confused.

'I think she saw someone,' Felix replied. 'I think she can catch them without our help. Are you coming brother?'

Ralph nodded, and they both walked towards the little train that lead to Fix-it Felix junior.

 ***

He had a hard time sleeping that night, and the night after this one. A growing sense of unease had taken over him. It surely didn't help that despite having a perfect alibi, nobody really believed he hadn't written the message on the central station's floor.

A least, with his "breach supervision duty" he could hang out with Vanellope a lot. Turned out she felt as awful as him.

'Y'know,' she told him on friday night, 'many of the kids from my game have disappeared. Taffyta is mad because Rancis is gone, and I don't know what to tell her.'

Ralph shivered. This was new.

'You have any idea where they could be?'

'Well. I wish it had been something else, but there's an answer that easily comes to mind, right?'

He frowned, unsure of what she meant. Then his head tilted, and he turned towards the breach. It was clearly standing out by this point, and little blue squares flickered in and out all the time.

'You don't mean... but I've been watching the entrance at all time!'

'Sorry to say this stinkbrain, but you're not that hard to fool, y'know? Besides, I think another breach opened somewhere in the caves.'

'That's... hey, when were you gonna tell me? I feel so stupid now!'

'You mean more than usual, or...?'

'Kid, I'm serious!'

'All right, all right, I'm sorry, I thought everybody knew.'

'But... what are they even doing in there? Everything you build eventually disappears!'

'Ralph, I don't know why they wanted to go in that thing. But I know other characters from other games have gone missing too. It's like they're not even scared of being plugged out? So weird.'

Ralph didn't know what to do. The logical thing would be to inform Felix and Calhoun about this new development, so they would shut down the breach for good, but they probably already knew about it, since they were close to the culprits anyway.

'Hell, I don't really need to stick around this glitch anymore, right? If there's another one that's easier to access...'

'It's only a theory, but I guess.'

Ralph kneeled down.

'Hey kid, are you all right? I've only been complaining all day, but if something's bothering you I can shut up and listen for a while.'

'It's nothing, just... I'm so... confused? I thought that now that King Candy is gone everything would go well from here, right, but then my subjects just give up on me without even a word? I feel like I'm missing out on something big, but at the same time I feel like they've fallen into a trap and I don't wanna suffer the same fate, so I don't know what to do!'

Her tone had gradually grown louder, and by the end she had been expressing herself with large gestures. Ralph didn't know what to make of it.

'I get you. This whole ordeal is beyond me, to be honest. I'm just relieve that it'll all be over by the end of the week.'

'Besides, what's cool is that now we have each other! We may screw up, but it'll be a frienship screw up. And that's the best kind of screw up, I'm telling you.'

'Hell yeah!'

He drew his fist and she bumped it cheerfully. The size difference always amused him.

They spent the rest of the days trying to build the ugliest cars from the car minigame. They felt like forgetting the harsh reality of the dangers surrounding them. Mostly, they felt like they didn't really understand it. They could, but it would take too much effort, and other people were taking care of it.

After play, they both went to sleep in the castle, and played their roles as usual the following morning.

They had almost forgotten the promise of saturday night.

Ralph was thrown off the building one last time, landed in the mud once the arcade closed. He got to his feet and brushed himself off. He suddenly noticed the nicelanders were short off at least five members, maybe more. Gene was nowhere to be found, for one thing.

He frowned, suddenly remembering that most games were affected by a character loss. For some reason he hadn't expected this to concern _his_ game.

'Hey Felix!' He called out.

'Sorry Ralph, I have to go,' the little man replied.

'Couldn't you at least spare me a minute?'

But there was no answer as Felix had already jumped on the small train.

Ralph looked through the glass of his arcade. He didn't know if the players had noticed anything, but one way or another, this business had to settled before the end of the week. Litwak's arcade was always closed on sunday, which gave them a bit more time.

He sat on the floor, his back against the building's basement. This story bothered him. Mostly he has pissed that he didn't understand anything. What were the clues he posessed, so far?

He and Vanellope had discovered the strange sea of numbers, a dimension where all things could appear. Could anyone live into that? Yes, he suspected. You could make food appear, as much as drinks, and beds. But nothing lasted in this dimension! A moment you would be resting on a clean double-bed with warm pillows and a soft blanket, five minutes later you would be floating in the weird dimension of zeros and ones again, and everything would be gone. What was the point of a place like this? Sure, it sounded marvelous, but in practical use? That had to be painfully annoying.

And yet, all those players had answered the call that had been painted on the floor. All those people, driven by... curiosity, boredom, anger, whatever in fact, had decided to enter this dimension and stay there.

Because, where else could they be? He simply had to figure out the "why".

He had a moment of clarity. Suddenly, he sprang to his feet and ran.

There was a way to live comfortably in the weird dimension. If you enslaved game characters to keep your creations alive. He saw no other reason for this whole mess - the citizens hadn't left willingly, they had been captured!

'Vanellope!' He yelled as he ran outside his game as fast as he could.

What if he arrived too late?


	4. New Liberty

Ralph dashed into the game central station as if he was trying to chase Sonic himself. It was empty.

'What the...?'

'There you are! Took you long enough.'

Vanellope was standing before the entrance to Sugar Rush, arms crossed.

'Kid! Where... where is everyone?'

'They all invaded my game like we're some kind of touristic attraction, that's where they are! I was about to join them myself, but I thought I'd wait for you, or you'd panic and freak out like an idiot.'

'Me? Panic? Freak out?' Ralph asked as he was catching his breath. 'Hah, you know me too well, kid.'

She rolled her eyes and they both hopped onto the train.

'So you're telling me everyone is in your game?'

'There was a big rush after the arcade's closing, yeah. It's the saturday night of revelations, remember?'

'Oh, right. I never expected it would attract so many people though.'

She shrugged.

'Curiosity is a wild thing. But I'm pretty sure some characters came just so they could stay with their buds. Or because they didn't want to be left out, who knows.'

The train reached its destination.

'So how do we reach the caves? Because that's where the second breach would be, if I'm guessing correctly.'

'Why bother with the second breach, when we know full well how to open the first one? It leads to the same place, right?'

'I guess...'

But they didn't even need to get that far. The breach had multiplied, there were basically entrances every ten yards.

'Holy hammers,' Ralph muttered. 'I feel like I made a huge mistake.'

'Nothing we can do about it, for now,' the little girl replied, opening one of the curtains. 'Whatever they have inside, it'd better be good.'

 

It was good. Where a few days ago laid a sea of nothingness and odd numbers, there was now a clean marble road that lead to a city. The sky was a mixture of pink and orange, the buildings were neatly shaped, and only slightly pixelated. Trees were planted in lines on each side of the path. There was no wind, there were no bugs or animals of any kind, but a swarm of game characters, strolling and admiring the beauties that surrounded them.

'How in Bowser's name...' Ralph muttered.

Vanellope frowned, as if she was searching for the flaw.

'You can still see the numbers at the edges, look,' she said as she pointed to the right direction.

'True... but wait, how did they build all of this in such a short amount of time? All the stuff _we_ built just disappeared after a short while!'

'I don't know, Ralph. They'll probably explain if we walk further.'

He nodded and followed her. He couldn't help but feel impressed. There was something about the buildings, the air, that cried "warmth and comfort", and as someone who had spent most of his life sleeping in a dump, this meant quite a lot.  
They entered the city. It was even more impressive on the inside. On the outside, it still somewhat looked like a model, some kind of a sculpture. From the inside, one could see all the houses, markets, water fountains, trees. It was real, like a human city, except everything was clean, and empty.  
Gene was standing in the middle of the main road, on a shiny marble pedestal - a crowd of game characters were standing in front of him. He was about to give a speech of some sort - he held a mike in his right hand and a piece of paper in his left.

'Welcome, everybody, to this wonderful city! Welcome to your new home! Welcome... to New Liberty.'

'Is that the name of the place?' Ralph whispered, but Vanellope shushed him.

Gene continued : 'I want to personnally thank everybody who came here tonight, for the presentation of this project. For all of those who feel tired, out of place, for all of those who want more out of life, New Liberty is the answer. New Liberty is the perfect solution to all of your problems - New Liberty is the magic place where all of your dreams come true!'

Ralph shivered. This was so accurate to his state of being he had been from a few weeks ago it almost hurt. Old Ralph would have loved this project.  
But what about new Ralph? He eyed Vanellope. She didn't look pleased. He felt like he understood her concerns - he knew something was off, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

'I am sure you have a lot of questions, at the moment. I will head the mike over to Clyde, who will be glad to provide all the answers you need,' Gene said as he handled said mike to the little orange ghost.

'Thank you Gene, but I don't have any arms,' the other replied with a polite cough.

'Don't worry, I will hold mike!' Zangief said as he hopped onto the stage.

'Zangief is a part of this?' Ralph exclaimed, puzzled.

'Thank you Zangief,' Clyde said as Gene jumped down. 'First question... yes, the young girl in pink? I think we have another mike for you.'

'I am Taffyta Muttonfudge, and you'd better explain this farce right away before I get upset. This colony thing or whatever you're trying to exploit, it's currently destroying Sugar Rush! _My_ game! At this rate we'll be unplugged on monday, first thing in the morning! What do you say to that?'

Vanellope looked annoyed. Ralph wondered why for a second, then chuckled.

'Feels weird agreeing with Taffyta, huh?'

'You don't say? It's going to haunt me forever.'

'I understand your concern,' Clyde replied calmly. 'However we don't think that's really an issue.'

' _Excuse me?_ ' Taffyta hissed.

'Calm down, young girl. Soon enough, you won't need Sugar Rush any more. With the technology we have developped in New Liberty, we can _recreate_ Sugar Rush. We can recreate Sugar Rush ten times if we want to. We can even make it better. You can design your own race tracks, or have your own castle, if you so desire.'

'I demand to see that,' Taffyta replied, seemingly unimpressed.

'But of course. Zangief, could you and Robotnik fetch the box for me?'

Zangief nodded, smiled and ran off with Robotnik inside one of the houses. They came back holding a large grey object that looked like some sort of crate, and put it down in front of the pedestal.

'Now Taffyta. What is it you want to see?' Clyde asked, staring directly into the girl's eyes.

She walked towards the stage, stared at the machine for a moment, and then back at the little ghost.

'I want you to build a castle made of candy, with a dungeon, a fountain of milk, a bed made of marshmallow and walls made of sugar blocks. I want four race cars parked at the front, and my name written in huge letters above the entrance.'

Robotnik wrote down all the instructions on Gene's speech sheet while the girl talked.

'Is that all?' Clyde asked.

She nodded, with a daring look.

'All right then. Mary, that's your cue. This shouldn't be too difficult for you?'

The little woman appeared from behind the pedestal. Ralph blinked. Gene and Zangief were one thing, but Mary? The world was going bonkers.  
Mary simply smiled at the little ghost, and set herself in front of the machine. A set of semi-transparent blocks suddenly burst from the cube and appeared before her. She launched a set of complicated movements with her chubby hands, and the shapes danced around her. It took half an hour, before she closed the machine and smiled again.

'All done!' She said happily. 'Just turn around and look!'

They all did, and where the bare entrance to the city had stood, there was now a huge castle made of candy. It was more than Taffyta's description - it was elegant, and the color went well together. It was still slightly pixelated, but less than the other buildings.  
Taffyta dropped her lollipop in amazement.

'I can't believe it...'

She ran towards her new castle, quickly followed by Candlehead.

'There you go,' Clyde concluded. 'New Liberty is indeed the city where every wish can come true. I thought about it for some time, but there is simply no flaw. This project is perfection itself.'

'Wait a minute!' Came a voice from the crowd.

Another short figure emerged and presented herself to the pedestal where Clyde and Zangief were standing. Ralph recognized her as another of the Sugar Rush racers, but had completly forgotten her name.

'This is very pretty and all, but this won't do for the loss of our game! What about the gamers? They can't play the games if we're here!'

'Ah, you're right indeed. But I don't really see a problem there.'

'...excuse me?'

'I know this may sound crazy for some of you, but... do we even need the gamers? Do we have to play their little games? We can just stay in New Liberty forever. They will never find us _here_. It's the end of slavery and a wide entrance to heaven! We can abandon the Arcade completly, and still have a place to live in.'

He let go a few seconds of silence, in order to let the idea sink in for a bit.

'Think about this. We don't owe the humans anything. They created us simply to exploit us, it is only fair that we should seek freedom. As I said earlier... there is literally no reason any of you should be against this project. I know it's frustrating, but not for long, once you realize the wonders that are at reach.'

Vanellope looked like she was about to explode.

'Nope. I can't. I can't let them say things like this without interfering. It's just too much.'

She glitched onto someone's shoulder, then onto the floor, then a bit further until she reached the pedestal. Ralph struggled to follow her, pushing people aside in order to make a path.

'Ah, if it isn't Vanellope,' Clyde muttered. 'Another question?'

'Yeah right, pea-size. Do you even have some shadow of a brain under that orange dome?'

'Should I understand you have detected a flaw in the New Liberty project?'

'You'd be lucky if it was only one! I've found _three_ major flaws, and it's only the beginning!'

'I'm listening.'

'Number one. This space or something is connected to Sugar Rush, right? So when they find out our game is empty because we're all here, they'll unplug Sugar Rush, and boom! This place sinks with the rest of the ship! We will _literally_ all _die_ together!'

'We have no reason to believe that to be true. The two spaces are connected, but this one is infinite, and not concerned by the same rules.'

'Number two,' Vanellope interrupted as if she hadn't heard. 'See there. I'm thinking I want a cupcake. A cupcake appears just for me, because that's the magic of the place and all. Say I want a gun? Who can stop me before I start killing everyone? And don't think any of us would regenerate here!'

'None of us here would want to do anything so horrible, you're just being ridiculous!'

This one came from Gene, and there seemed to be a general agreement from the crowd.  
Vanellope seemed furious.

'Have you all forgotten Turbo already? The maniac who took over my game, tried to murder me, then Ralph, and me again? Imagine what he would do in a place like this!'

'Vanellope...' Clyde sighed. 'We're not stupid, the same thing won't happen twice. We will put in place a surveillance system and a police force as to limit these outbursts. I understand that given your past, it is normal that you would be traumatized, but you're being paranoid.'

'Number three,' she shouted, unperturbed, 'do you realize that if we stay in this world forever, nothing new will ever reach us? We can build new lands with your fancy machines, but no new characters will ever join the arcade again. Ever! We'll be on our own, for eternity!'

Ralph shivered. To live forever, with nowhere else to go and no new faces to see... the prospect was terrifying.

'Now, I beg to differ,' someone said happily, and both Ralph and Vanellope were surprised to see that Mary was the one who spoke this time.

She turned her machine on again, and started working on it, at a faster pace than the first time. Vanellope took a step back, and bumped into Ralph's leg; she glitched up to his shoulder and stared in horror at the plump woman.  
After fifteen minutes that seemed to last forever, a little boy materialized in front of them, looking curious. He had the same chibi proportions as Vanellope, short blonde hair, and was wearing a fancy suit. He looked at Mary once, and then walked towards Ralph and Vanellope, smiling.  
The silence was deafening.  
Ralph broke it.

'No. You can't... that's not... that's not right!'

'Why is that?' She asked innocently.

The little kid hugged Ralph's leg, and giggled softly.

'I programmed him to like you! What do you think?'

Ralph looked like he was on the verge of tears.

'Don't ever do that again,' he begged. 'Please.'

He picked up the kid and held him in his arms. The child rested against Ralph's chest, and fell asleep. Vanellope's expression was unreadable, once more. She glitched towards the floor, and faced Mary, Clyde and Gene once more.

'As president of Sugar Rush, I hereby declare that I am firmly opposed to the New Liberty project. Firmly, completely and totally 'cause y'all have _lost your sanity!_ '

Mary looked confused. Gene crossed his arms, and Clyde rolled his eyes.

'All right, it's my turn then.'

Daisy from the _Mario_ franchise climbed onto the pedestal, shoving Clyde aside, and picked the mike from Zangief's hands.

'Vanellope, I understand your concerns. Though I am a member of the New Liberty project, I can tell you that they have crossed my mind as well. But it is time to make another announcement. It won't be easy to here, so please... brace yourselves.'

She took a deep breath.

'It is because of Wreck-it Ralph that we have no choice but to accept the New Liberty project. If you have to blame someone, blame him.'

There was a sudden impulse of loud noises. The characters expressed their shock loudly, yelled questions and insults. Ralph, still nursing the young boy, frowned in surprise at this turn if events.

'Everybody please calm down,' Daisy pleaded. 'Let me explain. You all know the events that took place a few weeks ago, how Ralph went Turbo and saved Sugar Rush from King Candy's grip. I will not debate whether or not this was the right thing to do, the fact is that his action inspired many other characters. Incidents have been reported all over the arcade. This was to be predicted, but Litwak is desperate. I heard him myself - he has decided to close the arcade, for good. That's why we don't have a choice anymore. New Liberty might be a dangerous place, but it is our last chance. Let's make this work, all right?'

Ralph felt like he had been slapped with a plane wing. It made sense, really. It was all his fault. He could almost sense the angry glares he was receiving, as the crowd dismissed slowly.  
He shook his head. No, there had to be something he could do.  
He walked towards the marble stage, adressing Daisy directly.

'How many days do we have until the arcade is destroyed?'

'A week in the best circumstances,' she said dissmisively. 'I'm sorry Ralph.'

'There's gotta be something we can do! There are ways to save a game, you know this!'

'There's too much risk. For now we have to stay here.'

'No Daisy you don't understand! I have been the first to enter this dimension, when the breach appeared. But I thought I was trapped, and started panicking. The dimension reacted by materializing my fears in the real world - I almost died that day! If it happens again, we might be doomed!'

Daisy frowned.

'That's worrying. Has anybody else witnessed anything like that?'

She adressed the instigators of the New Libery project, who had stayed around the pedestal to pick up their stuff.  
Nobody seemed to recall any similar experience.

'Don't pay him attention, Daisy,' Gene said in an angry tone. 'He's making this up to scare us because he feels guilty.'

'That's not true! I...'

'I'm sorry Ralph.'

Daisy patted him on the shoulder before leaving with her group.  
Ralph sat on the floor, and put a hand in his hair, feeling empty. Vanellope sat on his lap, and rested her head on his chest, next to the sleeping child.

'What are we gonna do?' She muttered.

She felt him straighten up. His gaze was fixed on the strange crate Mary had used to build the castle and the child - the machine that could build objects that didn't disappear. It was being carried by Zangied and Robotnik, who were walking towards a small pristine house to their left.

'Ralph?'

He got up and put the sleeping child in her arms.

'Keep an eye on him for me, please?'

'Ralph, what are you going to do?'

His gaze was still fixed on the crate. He took two steps, and then yelled :

_"I'm gonna wreck it!'_

 

 

 

 _Author's notes :_ Thanks for reading this far, comments would be really appreciated.

Also, if you clicked on this fic because of the "action, blood, violence" etc tags, don't worry. It all starts in the next chapter. I had to make a setting first, but we're getting there.

Have a lovely day!


	5. Versus Zangief

Ralph barely had time to take a few steps when a massive fist broke his run and sent him flying. His body slammed violently against a wall, making the structure of the building shake and a few debris fall around him. He stopped moving completly.

Zangief had of course, been the one to land the punch. He had dropped the creation box, and was currently walking slowly towars Ralph's inanimate body, hands on his hips.

'What was that Ralph? You want to be naughty today?'

Vanellope observed the scene without making any movement, or noise. She was still holding onto the child that Mary had created, but if Zangief threatened to hit Ralph again, she would be in his face before he even realized.

'Zangief?' Robotnik called from a distance. 'A little help here?'

'I'll catch up to you later, let me deal with this one!'

The other one grumbled something inaudible and went on to carry the box by himself. Vanellope wondered if she should be running after them, when a noise near the broken house caught her attention.

Ralph was moving again. Zangief laughed.

'Ha! I knew it'd take more than that to pin you down!'

The giant managed to haul himself in a sitting position, a hand on his head. He had multiple bruises, but no blood was in sight. He stared at the grinning wrestler with surprise.

Zangief kneeled down, smirking.

'Now Ralph, what should we do? Are you going to behave or should I punch you again until you sleep like a baby?'

Ralph ignored him and stood up. He tried to look ahead of Zangief, and noticed that the group was leaving - and that the box was with them.

'Ah, great. You aren't gonna let me pass, are you?'

Zangief's smile increased.

'You're getting it! Now, what will it be?'

Ralph clenched his fists.

'If it's a fight you want, then a fight you'll get. I'll apologize later.'

Zangief laughed, but his frown seemed to deepen. 

'Bring it on. You know, I've always dreamt to fight you, Ralph. I wondered what kind of a challenge you'd be. Make it worthwhile, all right?'

Vanellope kept staring at the two contestants. None of them moved for a while : each seemed to be waiting for their foe to make a move.

Now the question was : which one of them would win?

Zangief was slightly shorter than Ralph, but probably heavier. There wasn't an inch of his body that wasn't carved into a neat muscular shape. Moreover, he came from a fighting game, which meant he came prepared. He was probably the tank on the roster - strong but slow. Besides, from what Vanellope knew, he wasn't really the smart kind. Who would show up to a wrestling match wearing nothing but boots and a speedo? But her stinkbrain wasn't the brightest either, if she had to admit.

Ralph was taller, and his hands were bigger - more than that, they were actually weapons, conceived to wreck stuff with the highest efficiency imaginable. But those were his only advantages. Though he was muscular, he was also chubby in many places. His ridiculously short legs would hardly be of any use if he tried to kick his opponent, or worse if he tried to run away. His natural clumsiness would be of no help in a fight, adding to his lack of experience.

'At least he's dressed properly', she thought morosely.

But this would be no ordinary fight. New Liberty was a special place, where any object could be summoned at will. The fight's balance would depend on how creatively the two opponents would use the power at hand, Vanellope guessed. In such a prospect, she thought that maybe Ralph had a chance. And if he got knocked down, it would be easy for her to save him. 

Zangief was the first to strike. He landed a punch that Ralph blocked with his right hand. He then striked again, and once more after that. Ralph managed to block two blows out of three, but the last one caught him at the base of the chin and sent him flying once more. He got to his feet quickly, only to get brutally kicked in the face and fall to the floor once more.

But the Russian man didn't stop there. He kept kicking Ralph to the sides, strong enough to propulse him into another wall.

'You've gotten fat, Ralph! If you expect to beat anyone, you need more muscle!'

He approached his foe slowly. His smile hadn't faded since the beginning of the fight.

Vanellope admitted that she had misjudged him. He wasn't at all slow, neither as dumb as she had thought. But Ralph was getting up again. His nose was bleeding.

'You want more? There we go!'

'Shield!' Ralph squeaked.

This time, he managed to summon a huge metallic object that actually looked like a shield, and not some sort of soup can like last time. Zangief's arm pierced right trough it. Both men looked at the hole in utter shock, until Ralph used his remaining hand to hit Zangief in the chest, making him stumble and fall.

The remains of the shield vanished.

'Boy, do I hate violence,' Ralph sighed.

The Russian man was already back on his feet, and running towards him. He closed his eyes for a moment, in deep concentration, and...

CRASH.

Zangief head landed face first into a brick wall, that hadn't been there a second ago. Ralph was breathing heavily.

'I'm getting better at this,' he tought.

'I see you want to fight dirty?' 

The voice came from the other side of the wall, which was already starting to fade. Zangief was still bragging, but he was obviously hurt.

'Don't come complaining once this is over!'

'Don't worry, it wasn't part of my plans', Ralph replied morosely.

A few seconds later, the brick wall had completly disappeared. And Ralph was nowhere in sight.

'What the...' Zangief muttered.

He barely had time to look around him when three hundred and fourty two pounds of Ralph landed on him at full force. He knocked his head hard against the marble floor, but Ralph wasn't done with him yet. He lifted him from the ground and above his face, arms raised.

'My day job is being thrown off an eight-stories building,' he shouted. 'If you think your wimpy blows can beat me so easily, then _suck my fat_ , doctor fancy underpants!'

He threw Zangief against the opposite wall, making the whole house crumble on him.

'Have a taste of your own medicine!' Ralph added before wiping the blood that was dripping from his nose. 'I'm sorry, but my heart is in the right place.'

He then realized everyone was staring at him, including Vanellope and the kid.

'Ahum. I... think I'm gonna go, now?'

He took a step back, then another one, and then ran away, quickly followed by a bored-looking Vanellope and a nameless being.

 

***

 

'Wow Ralph, you fight good! You did _so_ much better than I expected!'

'Thanks kid. You think we can stop running now?'

'Not even _one_ person tried to follow us, dummy. Of course we can slow down.'

He came to a halt and sat on a rock. They had climbed a tiny hill. The artificial floor was green with rich grass, and a few flowers blossomed every here and there, but the space was far less detailed in these areas. There were no buildings of any kind, and the rare trees all looked the same.

'Raaalph, your nose is still bleeding!'

'Don't worry about it, kid. Happens all the time.'

The nameless child walked towards Ralph and inspected his face with a curious look. Ralph shivered once more. 

'Do you not like me?' The thing asked. 'I was programmed to like you. But what happens if you don't love me back? Should I go away?'

'No, it's just... complicated. I don't hate you kid, sorry if I made you feel bad.'

'Hey, what's your name?' Vanellope asked, sitting on Ralph's lap and staring directly at the child.

'I don't know. I'm sorry.'

'Nah, it's all right! Me and Ralph can find a name for you!'

'Woah kid, watch out, I'm not good at naming things.'

'Well duh, do I look like I passed my giving names to random children's license recently? Stinky brainy.'

'I'm just... not feeling confident about this!'

'Just say whatever comes into your mind!'

Ralph looked lost for a moment.

'I... I dunno! Felix, maybe?'

'It would be waaaay too confusing. I'm gonna call him... Saturday! Because it's saturday today, and I think it's cute on him.'

'Isn't it sunday though?' Ralph asked. 'It must be past midnight already.

'That's beside the point!'

'Saturday is good enough for me,' Saturday said. 'What are we doing now?'

Ralph seemed to wake up.

'Oh, right, we have to catch that box and destroy it! But where did they go?'

Vanellope gigled.

'Ralph, this world's just been built. There's not a hundred locations they could have been to in just a few minutes. I'm guessing that weird castle-like building we can kinda see in the distance.'

'Oh, that one! It's a... wait...'

 The thing looked like a castle, drawn from someone who only had a vague idea what a castle should look like. Parts of it looked like an impressive gothic mansion - some like the Nicelander's building, others like a raffinery of some kind.

'It's a thing,' Ralph finally said, feeling rather dumb.

'These people have no taste,' Vanellope confirmed with disgust. 'We really have to stop them.'

'Let's go then.'

Ralph held Saturday into his arms, and Vanellope hopped onto his shoulders as he started walking again.

'Oh but Ralph?' she asked after a few seconds. 'If we gotta fight someone again, this time you let me do it, okay?'

'Sure, but why?'

'Duh, I have the super-power to teleport, remember? Maybe we can prevent you from breaking your nose again.'

'It sure would be nice.'

 

***

 

'Do you see anything?'

'Yes. Two... no, three of them. Seems they must have beaten Zangief.'

'That's rather impressive. We'll have to be careful.'

'Oh don't worry, I can take care of them. And even if I did fail, we still have...'

'Yeah. I'd like to avoid relying on _them_ if possible.'

'Trust me. I got this.'


	6. The princess and the president

This was probably the most uninteresting place Vanellope had ever visited. There was nothing but grass, grass and more grass, and the rare flowers looked like colorful cubes on sticks. She was so bored that her spirit was feeding the land with colorful creations as they strolled: candy trees, chocolate puddles, marshmallow torches and so on.  
They were still marching towards the castle were the New Liberty creators were doing... whatever it was that they must be doing.   
Well. Ralph was doing all the walking, Vanellope was merely waiting for it to happen, perched on his shoulder. Saturday was quietly snoring.  
'You reckon Zangief is going to be pissed at me for throwing him into a wall?' Ralph asked anxiously, breaking the dull silence.  
'Nah, don't sweat it big guy. It's what bros do.'  
'Oh really. Do you want me to throw you into the next wall we see then?'  
'We're not bros!'  
'Says the kid who has been using my shoulder as a ride for the last half hour.'  
'Shush! Someone is coming!'  
'Why shush? There's literally _nowhere_ to hide!'  
Vanellope ignored him and glitched to the floor, staring at their new opponent. It was the princess Peach.  
'Hello there,' she giggled. 'Sorry to bother you, I have a message from the New Liberty team! Would you care to sit down for a moment and listen to it with me?'  
Vanellope sighed as loud as she could.  
'Princesses make me barf.'  
'But you are a princess!'  
'Don't insult me Ralph.'  
Peach was going from one to the other, wondering if she should repeat her introduction. Vanellope shifted her focus back to her.  
'All right crown-head, we're listening. What is it the _charming_ New Liberty folks have to say to us?'  
'Wait a minute, please. They promised they would build some chairs for us.'  
Only a few seconds later, three small office chairs appeared, along with a pink desk and drinks of all kind. Princess Peach, Vanellope and Saturday sat.  
'Err, what about me?' Ralph asked, uncertainly.  
'It might take a bit longer due to your... unusual frame. There it is.'  
A huge couch popped next to Vanellope and Saturday's chairs. He frowned and looked towards the castle with a glare that probably meant "seriously?". Vanellope laughed and Saturday clapped gently.  
'Right,' Peach said once they had all sat down. 'Anyone fancy a drink?'  
'We're kinda busy', Vanellope replied. 'Could you please cut to the point already?'  
'Very well. The New Liberty group... _we_ ask you to cease any aggressive measure towards our organization, right this instant.'  
'Or what?' Vanellope countered.  
'Or I will have to stop you manually, and it might hurt a bit.'  
Ralph absent-mindedly rubbed his broken nose. The blood had dried above his mouth, and he was sensing each of his bruises with unprecedented acuity.  
'So you mean that if we want to proceed we have to fight you?' Vanellope eagerly asked, eyes wide open with excitement.  
'Yes, in short that is the message I was trying to convey.'  
'Cool! Ralphie stand back, I'll handle this one!'  
'Be careful then,' he mumbled, grabbing Saturday and retreating to a nearby tree.  
Vanellope tried to analyze her opponent like she had done with Zangief, but princess Peach didn't give her enough time, for she attacked right away. Strings emerged from her fingers and strapped Vanellope tightly. She reacted by glitching away as fast as she could, but the floor under her feet crumbled and she fell into a hole.  
She glitched out once more, trying to hit Peach in the face, but her hand ran into a glass protection. She drew back a few feet, breathing heavily.  
'You are fast,' she complained after a few seconds of grunting and panting.  
'I have had a week to train. It is normal that you have a hard time keeping up.'  
'Say, why do you even want to escape your current life anyway? From what I heard your role in Mario is pretty cosy. All you have to do is wait for rescue to happen while you paint your nails.'  
'I was tired of being forever a damsel in distress. I saw Mario and the main characters live crazy adventures, and I envied them greatly. In New Liberty, I can do as I desire without being constantly told that a princess shouldn't fight or get herself in trouble.'  
'Your husband is the protective type, I bet?' Vanellope replied with a grin.

Peach sighed and nodded.  
'Ah, it's a shame,' Vanellope said. 'If you weren't my enemy, I would almost feel bad for you. I thought you'd be dull, but you're actually cooler than you look.'  
'Thank you,' the princess replied with a cold grin. 'Such a shame.'  
They resumed fighting, throwing even more strength in each assault. Vanellope crafted a candy sword that princess Peach countered with a glass shield.  
Saturday was watching the duel intently.  
'Why are they fighting? Why do they try to hurt each other?'  
'Because they disagree on a very important issue,' Ralph replied sadly.  
He felt anxious. So far, Vanellope had managed to avoid most of her foe's attacks thanks to her glitching abilities, but she was cutting it close, and closer each time. Meanwhile, she barely had any time to attack herself, and Peach was blocking all of her blows significantly without effort.  
Vanellope dodged an ice shard that would have probably pinned her down, then glitched backwards, twice. She had to find a way to take down Peach's defenses before she could hope to do any kind of damage. But the princess wouldn't give her enough time to let her think of a strategy. Vanellope realized vines and plants had started growing around her legs and feet. She tried to glitch away once more, but the vines were too thick.  
'At last, you have stopped moving! It was getting _awfully_ tiring.'  
Peach walked calmly towards her, lifting more vines as she went. Vanellope was completly trapped - she couldn't move neither her arms, nor her legs. But her mind was still free. She imagined a fountain of diet coke, right in Peach's face. How fun would it be to soak that beautiful dress, that perfect hair, how fun would it be to hear her scream!  
She then realized she had been a bit over-enthusiastic. Instead of a fountain, it was a literal eruption of diet cola that took place before her. Peach was blown ten feet away and would have probably broken her back if Ralph hadn't dashed to catch her before she fell.  
'Holy hell kid, what have you done?'  
The vines started to fade and Vanellope could finally move again.  
'Guess I got a bit too excited? Woopsie.'  
Ralph had gone pale. He set Peach's (heavily soaked) body on the soft grass, and wiped his forehead.  
'Remind me to never anger you ever again, please?'  
Vanellope laughed.  
'Afraid of a little shower, diaper baby?'  
She seemed to find her own joke hilarious and laughed so much that she stumbled and fell. When Ralph grabbed her, she seemed to have lost all strength.  
'You really went all out, huh...' he muttered to himself as she fell asleep on his hand.  
He exchanged a look with Saturday.  
'Shall we go, then?'  
'Is she gonna be all right, dad?'  
'Don't worry, she just needs to rest for a bit. She'll be fine.'  
He resumed walking towards the headquarters, until he suddenly realized the full impact of Saturday's words.  
' _Dad?!'_


	7. Bullet proof

Things were getting darker. The sky had lost its pinkish glare and the flowers had been replaced with a blurry stone floor of some kind. The air was a lot thicker, too - a brown fog had suddenly risen from nowhere and blocked most of the view. Little black pixels danced in the atmosphere every here and there, and at some points all light went our completly, as if the sun was being unplugged.  
Vanellope was still unconscious in Ralph's arms. She looked unarmed, but there was a lesson to be learned - crafting objects in this dimension cost a lot of energy. Ralph had felt it too, when hed had tried to protect himself from Zangief. When one crafted a shield, it was as if they had to pull the strenght required to mine for the necessary iron, and then forge it.  
'What is this place?'  
Saturday was sat on Vanellope's usual place, that was to say, Ralph's left shoulder. He didn't look scared exactly, but definitely uneasy.  
'I don't really know,' Ralph replied. 'It looks like some kind of trap, but I don't get what harm it does to us... can you?'  
'It's hard to see where we're going with this fog,' the child said, with a matter-of-a-fact voice.  
Ralph winced. It was true. He had lost the headquarter from sight, and was unable to tell if he was still walking towards it.  
But there wasn't really any other way, not any that he knew about at any rate.  
He was thinking about Saturday's words, how he had called him "dad" earlier. The word felt strange. He had never been programmed to be a parent, but one way or another he had been given a child, and if nobody wanted to take care of it, he would have to.  
But why him? Anyone could agree he was probably the least qualified being for raising a child.  
That was... if the thing was even a child. He had tried to ignore the fact that it had been crafted by Mary, like any other bench, office chair, cream cake... to what extend was it actually... well, real? Was it so simple to build a sentient creature?  
'There is someone coming towards you,' Saturday informed politely.  
'Huh?'  
Ralph could barely make out a shape in the fog, but he couldn't tell who it was. Or what it was.  
The shape was big, almost as big as his. It seemed like Ralph would once again have to fight someone in order to move forward.  
The light went off once more. When it came back, the fog seemed to lift for a little while, and Ralph suddenly realized who was standing in front of him.  
It was one of the Hero's Duty soldiers. Ralph had only met him briefly during his game-jump action, but knew that he was one of Calhoun's closest men.  
'Kohut...?'  
'Ralph.'  
'Are you here to warn me about something? Where is Tamora?'  
'I am not here on behalf of my sergeant, Ralph. I am here to fight you.'  
'What? But... did she order you too...?'  
'No. I know she is against this project, and this initiative that I have taken. But in this universe, she is no longer my superior. For the first time, I am my own man, and my fate isn't just to kill the same insects over and over every day. That is why I am going to fight you here and today. I'm sorry.'  
'Kohut, you've always been your own man! We don't have to fight, just... please hear me out!'  
'Everything that was to be said has already been said. You want to destroy this world, but I want to make it work. Unless you surrender, we must fight here and now.'  
Ralph noticed the man was fully armored, and holding his weapon with two hands. How was he going to defend himself against that? If he could craft some kind of shield, or something to take down that weapon, maybe he...  
There was an electrical noise, and a sudden burst of lightning in a few random places. Startled, Ralph almost fell.  
'Yes,' Kohut added, 'I forgot to mention. This space is corrupted. I don't know the exact reason, but things don't really work in here, neither do our mind's crafting abilities. If we fight today, we'll only use the powers that we inherited from our home games.'  
He loaded his gun, and pointed it towards Ralph's chest. The giant quickly placed Vanellope and Saturday on the floor behind him.  
'I am sorry Ralph. It is unfair, but you can't win, no matter what you do. If I pull the trigger once, you're gone.'  
'You wouldn't kill me, would you?'  
'Are you prepared to risk it?'  
'Yes,' the giant replied without a moment of hesitation. 'Go ahead, shoot me! See if I care!'  
Ralph started running towards Kohut, fists clenched and roaring. The soldier aimed for his left foot and shot.

The sound was surprisingly quiet.

There was no blood spattering in every direction, but immense immediate pain. Ralph tripped and fell forwards. It was absolutely unbearable. He felt tears run down his cheeks, or rather he guessed there would be. The pain in his foot was gathering the integrity of his focus. He had never been prepared for something like this.   
The fog was going crazy around him, trying to react to the raw strenght emitted by his pain, but unable to do so because of the corruption. Half constructed and unrecognizable objects flied around him and crumbled. The pixels changed color and flickered madly, but Ralph noticed none of that.  
He had one objective.  
Get up.  
He breathed heavily, trying to shove the pain away, then slapped himself once. He lifted his uninjured leg, yelled upon setting his injured foot on the ground, and finally stood.  
He looked behind him. Vanellope had awoken - Saturday and her were both looking at him.   
They were terrified. He had never seen them like this. The sight sent a rush of strenght flowing down into his body.  
He turned back to face Kohut once again. The man seemed unperturbed.  
'If you move again, I'll shoot your right hand.'  
'Try me!' Ralph roared. 'I'm not scared of you!'  
His eyes were wide with fury, tears still dripping heavily. His nose had started bleeding again, as a consequence of hitting it when he fell the first time.  
He took a step forward. Kohut shot him in his left hand. Ralph yelled. For a brief moment he forgot everything - where he was, what he was doing, his goal, his friends, his name. He fell once more, like a dead man. He didn't want to feel. He simply hoped his spirit would collapse so the pain would stop.  
He nearly fainted. He closed his eyes for a moment, but a sharp light forced him to open them again.  
A small figure was standing next to him, arms raised. The pixels were arranging themselves - the fog seemed to back away. There was a rush of wind.  
'Saturday...?' Ralph muttered, then coughed.  
The child was staring at Kohut.  
'I was born in this world, I know it better than any of you guys. You tried to kill the only person I like. Go away.'  
At which point Kohut broke.   
His body fell in pieces, as the child's mind was tearing it apart, piece by piece. He was extracting cubes from the soldier's body - where there should have been blood, organs, bones, there was nothing but stone.  
'Saturday, no!' Ralph screamed in terror. 'Stop it, stop killing him!'  
'I'm doing this for you, dad,' the child replied softly.  
Ralph made a gesture to stand back up.  
'No it's all right, don't exhaust yourself-' the child started.  
Ralph grabbed him by the collar with his injured hand. Blood dripped on Saturday's clothes.  
'You stop this, right now!' He roared.  
Saturday gasped. Suddenly, all the lights faded and Kohut's body pieced itself again.  
The soldier breathed heavily, in a deep state of shock. Saturday fell to his knees. Ralph closed his eyes as the pain rose once more. Vanellope glitched onward, stole Kohut's gun and drew back, grabbing Ralph and Saturday as she went.  
She dropped them as soon as she was out of the fog, then tossed the gun away.  
Ralph ran back into the corrupted space as soon as he could.  
'Ralph, stop it!' She screamed. 'You're injured you big idiot!'  
'Wait for me here, it won't take long!'  
He stormed onward, wiping the blood and tears from his face. His anger blinded him completly.  
Kohut was waiting for him at the center of the storm. He looked calm, but Saturday's assault had shook him more that he would like to admit.  
He dodged Ralph's first punch, then hit back, and twice after that. But it was like punching a mountain. His blows bounced of the surface, without any kind of damage. Ralph kicked him strongly in the chest, shattering his armor in half, then punched him in the face twice. He fell but got back up quickly, and ran away. He could still win the duel, but fleeing the situation seemed safer.  
Unfortunately, Ralph was faster than him. He was kicked in the back, and stumbled face first in the grass.  
Grass?  
He was out of the storm.  
Kohut dashed away from a punch that would have wrecked his skeleton, stood back up and crafted an iron wall around him for protection.  
He took a second to breathe, trying to think of a solution.  
Ralph didn't even bother to stop running. He ran into the wall, which fell from its hinges and hit Kohut in the face.   
Both men stopped moving, apparently stunned. Vanellope dashed out of the storm, quickly followed by Saturday.  
'Are they dead?' He asked.  
'Of course not!' She answered, a bit louder than intended.  
She walked towards Ralph, and noticed that he was shaking. Shaking with laughter.   
'Ralph, are you... okay?'  
No answer, but he kept laughing. She noticed that he was also crying. But at least he was alive, and conscious.  
'Can you heal him?' She said, turning in Saturday's direction.  
The child nodded, and kneeled down. He put one hand on Ralph's foot, extracted the bullet and healed the wound.  
Ralph's laughter was interrupted by a scream of pain.  
'What did you do?'  
Saturday was startled, but didn't reply.  
'He was only healing you, dummy,' Vanellope answered in his place.  
'Please stop,' Ralph answered to their astonishment.  
'But your hand is still hurt,' the child complained.  
'I know. I'm not against some kind of bandage or whatever. But I don't like my body being modified by this dimension's power. I don't trust it. Sorry.'  
'Oh,' Saturday said.  
Vanellope reflected on this for a moment, then gave up. She was still trying to accept the fact that Ralph, _her Ralph_ had almost died a few minutes ago.  
They healed him as best as they could.  
'If Saturday can craft objects that last, we'll have some mega advantage on our enemies from now on,' Vanellope pondered as she was cleaning the wound.  
'True, but if they use the box, they have the same power at any rate. And we saw that this thing can work from a long distance.'  
'We'll manage. But no more fights for you, stinkbrain.'  
'Say whaaat?'  
Vanellope stared at him with a mixture of anger and amusement.  
'You've done enough already! Or do you want every inch of your body smashed at least once before this adventure is over?'  
'My heart is in the right place,' Ralph replied softly.  
But it felt like he was talking to himself more than to Vanellope.   
The girl decided not to tease him about it. He had been hit on the head quite hard a number of times in just one night, after all.  
Kohut grunted. It seemed he was waking up. Vanellope turned to Saturday.  
'Can you tie him up?'  
'Chains or rope?'  
'Chains. Might as well go all out, right?'  
'I don't know what that means.'  
Ralph stood up, looking at his hands. For the first time in his life, they weren't entirely symetrical. One was wounded and bandaged while the other was unharmed. The players would probably notice the change - if they managed to save the arcade before monday, that was. Past that deadline, it wouldn't matter anymore.  
He knelt down in front of the children.  
'Thank you guys, for saving me. I'm sorry if I scared you.'  
Vanellope snorted.  
'Scared, _me?_ '  
'Whatever happens, I will always be there for you,' Saturday said as he hugged Ralph's leg once more.  
'Let's get ready, then,' Ralph replied with a faint smile. 'For the next fight, probably.'  
'A wounded villain, a mentally unstable glitch and a robot child, on an adventure to save the arcade,' Vanellope summed. 'What could go wrong?'  
Then, the floor exploded.


	8. A shower of torpedos is always good for your skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourselves, because this is a wild one. I had so much fun writing it, I hope you have as much fun reading it!

Vanellope barely had time to register the sound that she found herself lying face first in the grass.   
What had happened?  
She stood up and looked around. It seemed that Ralph had taken most of the blow to protect her and Saturday. He looked unharmed, strangely enough - stunned but okay.  
She stared at the New Liberty headquarters. It had been a torpedo or she didn't come from a racing game. And three others were on their way.  
This reminded her of something.  
She had a brilliant idea. But she needed to save Ralph and Saturday quickly or it would never work.  
She glitched towards them, grabbing one with each of her arms, then glitched back to where she had been.   
It was a close shot. The explosion almost made her drop Ralph. Even with her glitching abilities, moving such a mass was a precarious affair, and requested a lot of energy.  
She glitched even further, knowing she only had about three more jumps until running out of energy and being forced to drop Ralph.  
The second torpedo landed a solid ten feet away from her, but the third one was getting closer.  
'Saturday!' She shouted. 'Shield!'  
The child obeyed. The torpido exploded on an invisible surface a few feet above their heads. Vanellope then glitched away twice, and dropped her passengers.  
Ralph grunted in pain.  
'Ralph, you can stand?'  
'If absolutely necessary, I guess,' the giant muttered.  
'Cool. Saturday, I'm gonna need your help again. I need you to craft a race car for me. A fast one! And big enough to fit the three of us!'  
Saturday looked puzzled.  
'I don't know what a race car is,' he apologized.  
Ah, of course, Vanellope thought. Saturday had never been outside New Liberty. But the Headquarters guys were already shooting more torpedos into the air, and worse even, an army of some kind was storming towards them.  
'I can show you,' Vanellope said. 'But I'll need some time, and we don't seem to have much of that, right now.'  
'Should we retreat to the foggy place?' Ralph suggested.  
'They could still shoot us from there, and we wouldn't even see it coming. Saturday can take care of the torpedos if necessary, but it's those army guys I'm worried about. Who are they anyway?'  
Ralph squinted.  
'Ah, great. They're the skeleton army from _The Forest Butcher'_ s Halloween update. Not very sturdy, but basically invincible. If you break their bodies, they'll just rebuild themselves. I can hold them off for a bit, if you need me too.'  
'Yes, it won't take long.'  
'What happened to the "Ralphie should never fight again" rule?' He added with a chuckle as he ran.  
She frowned, but he had a point.  
'Okay Saturday, keep your eyes wide open because you'll have to copy what I'm about to craft once I'm done! Got it?'  
He nodded. Both could hear Ralph yelling at the skeletons in the background. It made Vanellope smile. Whatever happened, she was not alone.  
She tried to picture the kart Ralph and her had built together a few weeks ago. Except it needed to be bigger, and faster. And maybe a bit sturdier, if she could manage.  
There were so many things she had to think about. Every piece had to be the right size, the engine had to be in place, the colours had to be right, along with the texture...  
'Vanellope!'  
Ralph's voice interrupted her train of thoughts. She looked up. A torpedo was seconds away from exploding in their face. Saturday was watching her so intently that he had forgotten the current danger. She quickly glitched away, but not fast enough. The blow sent her flying against a tree.  
'You rotten nougat!' She yelled at the debris.  
Ralph was surrounded by so many skeletons that his orange polo was barely visible under a sea of white. Saturday had collapsed a few feet away. She figured it represented a lot of violence for a... technically newborn.  
But she needed him.  
'Saturday, there's no time to sleep you sad burrito! I'm gonna craft my car, so watch me!'  
He blinked at her in surprise. Suddenly four candy wheels appeared before him. He registered their shape and size.  
'Not big enough,' Vanellope thought.  
As she made them bigger, she built the structure that united them, along with the engine. Good thing she had enough experience in the field, or this would have easily resulted in a catastrophe.  
But what _didn't_ , these days?  
As she crafted the seats, she figured it looked more like a war tank than an actual kart. It gave her a few ideas. She added a canon at the back. It would throw ice cream at their foes - nothing lethal, but enough to be deeply unpleasant at least. She made a roof and turned most of the biscuits part into iron.  
She was surprised by the amount of energy that the crafting required. By the end, she felt dizzy and her head ached a bit.  
Hopefully, Saturday crafted a replica rapidly, and they both hopped inside.  
'Let's go rescue Ralph! You ready, Saturday?'  
'There's a torpedo coming!'  
'What are you waiting for? Shield!'  
'No, I meant, coming towards Ralph!'  
She sighed, and pushed the accelarator.  
Meanwhile, Ralph was having trouble breathing. The skeleton's attack went from weak to wimpy to inexistent, but accumulated for several minutes, they began to overly exhaust the body, having it yearning for rest. He kept punching and kicking, yet they always came back. He collapsed on his back, and was immediately climbed onto, hit, slapped, pinched and insulted.  
But all suddenly felt like nothing when he realized another torpedo was coming. He was pinned to the floor, and was unable to dodge. He could hear the roar of a car nearby, but he knew it could never reach him in time. His mind was too tired to craft any sort of valid protection. He knew that he had no choice but to brace himself and take the hit.  
The torpedos had been meant to be non lethal. The New Liberty team wanted to protect their creations, not murder him. However, they had not cared about how much this could _hurt_. Ralph screamed and whined as the deflagration buried his body a few feet in the earth.  
His chest would be nothing but a huge bruise, in a few hours. Hopefully, he had mabaged to shield the heart-shaped cookie with his left hand.  
The tank parked itself next to him. A door opened. Vanellope dashed outside, and forcibly glitched him in.  
'Why did you have to be so heavy?' She complained.  
'I didn't program myself,' he thought, though he was too exhausted to say it out loud.  
Though the tank was much bigger than any race car in Sugar Rush, it was still too small for him. He had to bend his legs against the back door to fit in. Luckily enough, even in this awkward position, his arms were long enough for him to reach for the ice cream canon.  
If only he could see where he was aiming, that would have been great.  
Vanellope was having a hard time driving the heavy tank through the literal crow of skeletons. It seemed there were more of them every second. She could roll over them as much as she wanted, the skulls and bones were slowing her down.  
'Torpedo incoming! Saturday, you know what to do!'  
'I'm being useful!' The child chanted happily as he drew the usual shield above the vehicle.  
'Are we getting closer to the headquarters?' Ralph shouted from his place.  
'We're getting closer, but...'  
'But? But what?'  
Vanellope didn't answer right away. She needed to concentrate. They were using the box again to build obstacles on her path, that she was forced to drive around or glitch through.  
'Let's just say we would be going faster if someone didn't keep dumping trash on my path!'  
'Oh.'  
Ralph felt the steel floor shatter under him.  
'Uhm. Don't want to alarm you or anything, but I think I'm too heavy for this thing!'  
'Saturday, could you fix the car?' Vanellope reluctantly asked.  
But Saturday was at the window, focused on something.  
'They're sending other cars from the castle, look! Do you think they're after us?'  
Vanellope groaned with displeasure. It was some of the Sugar Rush racers - Rancis and Swizzle if she guessed right. A third car followed the first two, but Vanellope didn't even need to look to know who was inside.  
'Of course,' she complained. 'I can't spend one adventure without Taffyta being in my hair! That girl, I swear! One candy castle and all her concerns are gone!'  
Ralph couldn't help but smile.  
'You kick their butt at the race every day, show them they're no match to you once and for all!'  
'You haven't seen the karts they've been given, I've had _nightmares_ of these things.'  
The karts were no ordinary Sugar Rush models - they were loaded with all types of the most dangerous weapons the game posessed, and maybe more.  
'I can tear them to pieces if you get close enough,' Saturday offered while shielding them from yet another torpedo.  
'No!' Ralph shouted. 'You could hurt them!'  
'But if I don't hurt them they will hurt _us_ ,' Saturday replied, incapable of understanding. 'Shouldn't we fight back?'  
'Oh we _will_ fight back,' Vanellope explained with a devilish grin. 'Ralph, you'll have to use the ice cream canon! Fire at will!'  
'But I can't see where I'm aiming!' The giant complained.  
'Saturday will look for you then, I don't know! I'm busy driving this thing!'  
She violently glitched to her left, bringing the whole tank several feet above the ground as a torpedo exploded near them. When the wheels hit the floor once again, she held tight to the steering wheel and winced. Ralph grabbed Saturday with one hand, but hit his own face against the roof. When he fell back, he felt the crack in the floor widen.  
Rancis and Swizzle were coming closer. They fired their weapons - huge chocolate chunks erupted from their side canons. Saturday blocked most of the chunks ; Vanellope dodged the rest with her fighting abilities.  
The two boys moved as to let Taffyta go. Her car was a terrifying machine, armed with metallic arms. She threw them forward, grabbed the tank and lifted it above the ground. Vanellope was saved by her seatbelt, but Ralph had to grab Saturday once more in order to prevent him from falling through the back window.  
The child's eyes widened.  
'I see an opening! Dad, fire the canon, now!'  
Ralph punched the button with his injured hand. Taffyta screamed, but it was too late. She dropped the tank while her own car crashed into a tree.  
The tank was now several feet into the air, and falling rapidly. Vanellope tried to break the fall by glitching, but was too slow. The floor gave in under Ralph's weight - he was tossed to the floor when Vanellope glitched away.  
His back was aching, his hand had started bleeding again. He was left alone in a wide sand field, with Swizzle and Rancis coming towards him and Torpedos in the sky. Worst even, he could see the skeleton army in the distance, coming towards him.  
He tried to get up and run. Swizzle cut his escape route by parking in front of him, readying his gun.  
'He's enjoying it, the little-'  
His insult was muffled by the literal chocolate assault that sent him flying against the remains of Taffyta's kart. He could only mutter 'I _really_ hate chocolate...' before fainting.

Meanwhile, Vanellope was almost at the headquarters. She had lost a wheel and a door. Saturday was clinging to the canon desperatly.  
The door opened, and a swarm of hero's duty soldiers came out, holding fruits and vegetables, for some obscure reason.  
Vanellope groaned in frustration.  
'Does it never end? Ralph, I'll do a spin, try to shoot as many as you can!'  
'We don't have Ralph anymore!' Saturday cried. He fell!'  
'What?'  
Vanellope finally looked back, and cursed. She turned around, leaving a bunch of puzzled soldiers near the door. Saturday tried to get a better hold of the canon while rebuilding the damaged parts of the tank with his mind.  
Ralph was surrounded by Rancis, Swizzle and Taffyta, who seemed to be wondering how in the world they were going to carry him to the headquarters.  
They were interrupted in their reflexion by the arrival of a half broken tank and its passengers.  
Vanellope knew she couldn't run into them, so she dashed outside of the tank and landed in the sand, facing her three enemies. She crafted an impressive looking sword, and wielded it.  
'Who wants to go first? Come at me, pie crust!' She yelled.  
Rancis and Swizzle reacted by crafting weapons of their own. She ran towards them, ignoring the pain in her legs, the sound of explosions, the screams and the fear.  
She had used most of her strength at this point, but if her calculations were correct, she only needed to glitch twice before breaking into the headquarters.  
Whatever could be waiting for them there, but that was another question.

Swizzle and Rancis were getting closer. She raised her weapon, but at the last moment, when they thought she was about to strike, she glitched through them.  
The sensation was horrible. She had already glitched through walls, trees, any kind of objects, but never characters. It was like swimming through their emotions, and it hurt.  
But in a few seconds, it was over. She grabbed Ralph, and glitched away, dropping her useless weapon. She landed in Swizzle's car, breathing heavily. She threw up. But she had made it. So far her plan had worked. Now all she needed was a bit of driving. And fortunately, that thing was in her code.  
Bonus, she now had a bunch of cool weapons at her disposal.   
She started the engine, and drove away from Taffyta, Swizzle and Rancis. She barely slowed when getting near the tank to pick Saturday, and then pressed the accelerator to its maximum speed.  
She ignored all the soldiers waiting for her near the entrance of the headquarters. She wasn't interested in the _entrance_. All she needed was a side wall.  
She fired her chocolate canons as to break a hole in the wall, and drove straight through it.  
She was inside the building.  
'Yeah!' She screamed. 'Sweet mother of goat milkshake, we did it!'  
'What a day,' Saturday replied.  
Ralph grunted, which meant he was probably waking up.  
Vanellope figured the box would be at the top of a building, so she drove onto the staircase, and broke another door. Finally, she stopped the car.  
She was sure that this time she had found it. A door that practically screamed "important business happens beyond this entrance". But she had to wake Ralph before getting in. Even though she was probably sure that she _could_ break the box herself, with or without getting help from Saturday, he was the wrecker. It felt appropriate.  
'Ralph, we're here. Wake up.'  
He shook his head and winced.  
'About time.'  
He got up, then out of the car, massaging his body in various places where it ached. Saturday sat on his right shoulder, and Vanellope on his left.  
He noticed there was someone standing in front of the door. He looked like he had never been more shocked in his life.   
Ralph suddenly recognized him.  
'Felix! So that's where you have been this whole time! I was afraid they had captured you.'  
'Ralph, what have they done to you? Don't move, I'll ease your pain,' he said worryingly while getting his hammer.  
'I know, they're rough, right?'   
He chuckled.  
'But you probably know that already, since you and Calhoun have been fighting them since day one... whew, can't even imagine what you must have been through!'  
He smiled as the magic hammer healed most of his wounds. It felt good, to finally be safe and unhurt.  
'Yeah,' Felix said. 'It was rough indeed. But I'm glad you're both here.'  
The door behind him opened. Tamora walked out, looking deeply annoyed.  
'Oh hi Sergeant!' said Ralph. 'How's it going in there? You have destroyed the box already, or they hidin' it somewhere else?'  
Tamora looked at Felix, who glanced back at her with an apolegetic face. Vanellope frowned. Ralph raised an eyebrow.  
'So you haven't told them?' She asked. 'Boy, this is going to be awkward.'  
'Please, be soft with them,' Felix begged. 'They have been through a lot.'  
' _They_ have been through a lot? You've seen what they did to Kohut? You remember what happened to princess Peach?'  
'What can I say, our hearts are in the right place,' said Ralph, who was probably the only one who hadn't understood what was going on yet.  
'Yeah, for sure it is. Poor fool.'

Her voice was as cold as ice.

Tamora took a taser from inside her belt and shoved it in Ralph's chest. He barely had time to scream before everything went dark.

 

 

 _Author's notes :_ There you go, probably the wildest chapter yet. If there's anything you didn't understand, feel free to ask in the comments. Reviews of any kind would be appreciated, actually

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapters coming soon, and have a lovely day!


	9. Tears and corruption

Felix was nervously twiddling his thumbs. He was sitting against the box, wiping sweat off his forehead. He knew that everything would be over in a few hours - for better or worse. The arcade would open, and when mister Litwak would find out every game was empty he would close the shop and retire.  
The little handyman winced. That wasn't a very polite way of going, indeed it wasn't. He would have liked to leave a little message for the owner, but they had left in such a hurry and now it was too late. Nobody could leave New Liberty without putting their lives at risk.

Sugar Rush was in shambles.

The place was no longer a shiny candy themed race track with forests and puddles all around. What remained was a desolated sea of glitches. The colours were all off, pixels were out of place, flickering madly at all hours.  
Felix had seen it. He had felt absolutely awful about it.   
But he knew he couldn't draw back - _especially_ not him. So he sat in silence, letting his anxiety rise steadily.  
'Are you all right?'  
Daisy opened the door and stared directly at him, unblinking.  
'Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry ma'am.'  
He attempted to smile, and it would have almost looked convincing without the absolute dread concealed at the back of his eyes.  
'Are you having second thoughts about this project? You know you can tell me anything.'  
'No I'm quite all right, don't worry', he said as he quickly stood up.  
'Sure. Your wife is waiting for you downstairs. The rebels have been locked in the basement, if you want a word with them.'  
Felix grew pale, but nodded. He walked towards the exit, looking at his feet.  
Tamora was indeed waiting for him downstairs.  
'Wow honey, you look as happy as a cat who's just been slapped by the mouse he was chasing,' she teased him as he went.  
'Sorry but I'm not really in the mood for analogies right now.'  
'Oh, don't give me that look. Sure, they're mad at us  _now_ , but soon enough when they realize everything is fine they'll calm down. Ralph is always a bit dramatic, but he's more resilient that you give him credit for. As for Vanellope, she's been surprisingly mature for a child, all things considered! We shouldn't complain too much.'  
He nodded once more, and followed her on their way to the basement.  
'C'mon Fix-it. It'll all be over in a few hours. Cheer up!'  
'I'll try.'  
The basement was another corrupted space. At some point the stairs abruptly ended and there was nothing but unstable rock formations inside a gigantic cave.  
Dr Robotnik and Bowser had carried previously crafted jail-cells in this place so that the convicts couldn't use their crafting abilities to escape. They had made an extra sturdy cage for Ralph and glitch-proof chains for Vanellope. 

Ralph was lying on his back, sighing because the cage was too small for him. Vanellope was sitting against the metal bars, looking bored and defeated.  
Felix took a cautious step in, looking as nervous as he was. There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Though no one actually moved, he could sense the two convicts had tensed, as if they were ready to attack.  
'Uhm... hello you two, I... uh... wanted to apologize for...'  
Felix couldn't find his words. In any other occasion, Vanellope would have made fun of him, but she just looked annoyed.  
'Cut to the point.'  
'Yes, sorry. I am sorry, for the way we treated you. In a few hours, you will be set free, so...'  
'But then it'll be too late.'  
This one was from Ralph. Felix was shocked to hear how sad he sounded.  
 _'Does he know something that we don't?_ ' Felix wondered in a fit of paranoia.  
'It's... it's really not that bad I promise! If you want to talk, we can explain why we chose to side with New Liberty,' Felix offered.  
Vanellope shrugged.  
'Nah, I'm good.'  
Ralph remained silent.  
'Seriously? You don't even want to know why we...'  
'Where is Saturday?' Ralph interrupted.  
'Who?'  
'The child that Mary crafted for me.'  
This one surprised everyone in the room, including Vanellope.  
'You care about that thing?' Tamora asked. 'It's asleep in one of the upper rooms I think. They said they had to modify him a bit, something like an upgrade.'  
Ralph remained silent.  
'Okay, so, if none of you have anything to say, we'll see you around later I guess. Felix and I have work to do.'  
Tamora took him by the hand. They both climbed back the staircase. When they left the basement, they heard an angry yell and Ralph banging against the metal bars.  
Tamora sighed.  
'Don't pay attention to him. He has a lot of anger to get rid off. He'll be fine.'  
'I feel so bad for him,' Felix muttered. 'For Vanellope to. After all they've been through...'  
'What we did is the _best_ that could happen to them, trust me.'

***

'Ralph, stop punching your cage please. You're giving me a headache.'  
'I can't believe it! We were so close! How could I be so... _stupid_?'  
'I know, it sucks right? But there's nothing we can do about it. Try to sleep, maybe, I dunno.'  
'I can't. My cage is too small.'  
She chuckled involuntarily, then closed her eyes, trying to empty her thoughts. She almost fell asleep.  
Almost.  
An angry hiss woke her up from her semi-sleep. Ralph was pushing the roof of his cage with all the strength of his legs.  
'Ralph, stop it, it's no use! You'll just get yourself hurt!'  
'But I'm the wrecker! Breaking... it's the only thing I'm good at! How can I call myself Wreck-it Ralph if I can't even destroy a stupid cage?'  
'They built it specifically to be Ralph-proof, dummy!'  
'There is no such a thing as Ralph-proof. I was programmed to destroy absolutely _anything_ if needed. And I'll show you!'  
He pulled at one of the bars, groaning and panting, but nothing happened.  
'Wow, I almost got excited for a second there', Vanellope said while repressing a yawn.  
'This can't be the end. We can't just wait here for it to happen. There's gotta be a solution, anything.'  
'I wonder why this place is corrupted,' Vanellope asked absent-mindedly. 'Maybe it has to do with what's on the outside?'  
'Wait, Saturday could bend reality even in corrupted space!' Ralph exclaimed. 'This might be our chance!'  
'But we didn't ask him how he did it,' Vanellope countered.  
'Sure, sure, but he said something, right? Before he turned Kohut into a Tetris dump. What did he say? It could be a clue.'  
'Yeah, he said something about being born in this place. Does that mean, like... that he is made of corruption?Nah, it doesn't make sense.'  
'Or maybe... maybe when you create a little Saturday, the fog appears. As a counter-effect or something. And when you make another one, it expands.'  
'Didn't they say they were going to update Saturday?' Vanellope asked, suddenly frowning.  
'Yes, they did. Why do you ask?'  
'Because it's expanding, look.'  
She was right. The dark fog was getting thicker, and progressed towards the staircase.  
'No way...'  
'Calm down stinkbrain, it could be a total coincidence!'  
'Yeah, I guess it's a bit far-fetched. But assuming we're right. What do we make of this information?'  
They both remained silent for a moment.  
'Maybe, if corruption is some kind of residue of his power, or his being, or whatever... we can communicate with him through it?'  
'It's worth a shot.'  
'There's absolutely _no way_ that it ever works.'

***

Ralph and Vanellope were almost right. The source of corruption was, in fact, the box.   
The rules were that any object could be crafted in the New Liberty space, but that all creations had to eventually fade and disappear. The box allowed them to make permanent creations - unaffected by the course of time. But the counterpart was corruption : a sterile space where nothing could be crafted. It expanded with every new creation from the box.

But when it got too dense, the fog became corrosive, and the two convicts were about to find out in the most unpleasant way imaginable.

***

'I told you it would never work.'  
'Maybe we're not trying hard enough!'  
'Oh, Ralph. You've got the thickest skull I've ever seen, and yet I can still smell the stink of your brain from here.'  
He opened his eyes.  
'That... that was surprisingly mean. Ouch, kid.'  
'Sorry, I get salty when I'm desperate. I'd better get some rest.'

She lied down on the floor of her cage, and tried to get comfortable. But a strange sense of unease kept her from sleeping. It wasn't exactly an itch, but it _felt_ like one.  
'Ralph, do you feel that?'  
'Feel what?'  
So he didn't.  
'Nah, it's nothing.'  
She tried to shove the feeling away, thinking it was probably nothing. But five minutes later, it had grown much stronger.   
She felt like she was going to throw up again. Her skin felt dry. She looked at her arms, and noticed there were cuts everywhere. She gasped.  
'Ralph, I think my skin is peeling off!'  
She tried not to sound too panicked, but her body had never done something like that.  
'What? Where? _How?'_  
'It's happening to you too!' She realized, panick rising.  
Ralph looked at his hands. Though thanks to Felix he had been fully healed during his sleep, bruises and cuts were appearing once more all over his palms. They weren't bloody yet, but it was only a matter of time.  
'Why is this happening to us?'  
His nose had starting bleeding again. He wanted to protect himself, but he didn't know from what.  
'I think it's the fog!' Vanellope cried.  
'But it wasn't doing that earlier!' He complained. 'Why is this happening to us?'  
It wasn't just the pain of the skin burning away - his whole body felt sore and ached. The brain's reaction was to shut everything down and make him faint, but who knew if he would ever wake up again?  
Ralph slapped himself, splashing blood across his face. It was disgusting, but he had to stay awake.  
'Wait, were the bars always this thin?'  
He received no answer. Vanellope had collapsed.  
'Kid! Don't leave me!'  
He grabbed one of the metal bars. It broke as easily as a twig. Realizing that it meant freedom, Ralph kicked aside the remains of his cage and Vanellope's before running towards the staircase.  
He yelled and cursed as he went, and fell to his knees when he finally reached the ground floor. He breathed heavily, wiped the blood off his face and looked around him.  
They were in the building's main hall, and everybody was staring at them in utter shock. The soldiers guarding the entrance all stormed towards them in one smooth motion.  
'Stay away!' Ralph shouted angrily. 'Can't you see that we've had enough?'  
He closed his eyes. A massive brick wall appeared between him and the soldiers. He brutally shoved them outside, then got up.  
His pain made him stronger, but he was still surrounded.  
Bowser came in his direction, followed by Gene and Clyde.  
'Ralph? What the flames even happened to you? And how did you escape?'  
'Get down there and you'll easily understand how I escaped!' He shouted, finger pointing at the basement floor. 'I almost died!'  
He picked Vanellope up and tucked her gently in his arms. She was still unconscious.  
'The corruption was burning our skin. You almost killed a child! What more do you need before you realize this whole project is absolute madness?'  
'What? But we never meant to...'  
Ralph closed his eyes once more, trying to calm down.  
'Get out.'  
'Ralph, please...'  
'Out of my way. GET OUT!'  
There was a powerful blow. In an instant, the three characters were blasted away. Bowser ended up shattering the wall. Clyde was unharmed, but Gene didn't get up.  
'Oh no we don't'! Bowser exclaimed as he got back up. 'Ralph, you're the one who inspired us to go beyond our code! For all the bad guys, you're a hero! Why do you want to destroy everything that we've built, now?'  
Ralph ran towards Bowser, and grabbed him by the collar.  
'Because my heart is in the right place,' he whispered. 'Everything else has already been said.'  
He threw him away, and walked towards the staircase that lead to the upper floors.  
He turned to face his enemies one last time.  
'I'm gonna wreck the box. Don't try to stop me. It's time to put an end to this world.'  
'Ralph, no!' Bowser begged. 'Please understand. This world... we built it for you! We thought you would love it.'

This statement stopped him right in his track. He stared in amazement at the villains assembled in the main hall. They either nodded in agreement or looked away.  
'Seriously? I... I had no idea.'  
'It's true,' Clyde said. 'Your actions really did inspire us. You made us realize we were actually more than our code. That we could be our own beings!'  
'But you can be your own beings within the arcade,' Ralph objected. 'I don't understand.'  
Clyde looked at Bowser sideways.  
'Should we tell him?'  
The other nodded.  
'The arcade has its eyes on you,' he explained. 'We heard your good guys respected you after what you achieved in Sugar Rush. Well, it's the same for our good guys. They respect _you_. And therefore, we don't exist.'

Ralph shivered. They weren't directly accusing him, but he understood the message. For him to be happy, others had to suffer in silence. It was as if he had become the good guy of some game, and they were left in the shadow of his glory.  
Sure. But he had never _wished_ for fame and glory. Well, he had. But he had quickly realized it was nothing compared to Vanellope's friendship. And because of these guys, she had almost died.  
He didn't really have time for any of this.  
'Well, rest assured. I won't be so popular once this whole ordeal is over.'  
'Neither will we, after what happened to you two,' Clyde replied sadly.  
'We'll have a depressing meeting about how sad our lives are, then,' Ralph said. 'But guys... don't despair. It took me thirty years to figure out my way to happiness. It's probably a score you can beat. Take it one game at a time.'  
He winked and left.  
'Good luck, Ralph!' Bowser yelled after him, but the wrecker was already gone. 'Yes, he's gonna need it,' he added for himself a few moments later.

***

Tamora Jean Calhoun was a relatively patient person. If she was on a mission, she didn't mind staying hours, even _days_ undercover, doing nothing exciting if it meant saving lives.   
But waiting simply because there was nothing to do was absolute torture to her. How long again till sunrise? Or had it already happened? And Felix wasn't even there to keep her company. He was in Daisy's office - she had something to discuss with him apparently.  
She yawned, briefly wondering how long it would take Ralph and Vanellope to forgive her. She wasn't worried. She was even slightly disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to fight them. It would have been interesting, in this environment.  
The door behind her opened. Felix and Daisy got out - her husband looked even more nervous than he had been all day.  
'What's up?' She asked.  
'They escaped! Ralph and Vanellope are out of their cages! And they're hurt!'  
She raised an eyebrow.  
'How did that happen? I thought the cages were supposed to be unbreakable.'  
'They were,' Daisy answered. 'Something unexpected happened. Felix and I are going to investigate on the matter, but I don't think we can lock them up again until sunrise.'  
'Ah. So you want me to intercept them, I bet?'  
'No. I need _you_ to move the box. Take your cruiser and lock it up in one of the appartments in the city. I've sent Sonia Blade to slow them down while you do that. Once you're done, come back here and guard this office as if the box was still in there. This should buy us enough time.'  
'Fine by me. One question though. Are you sure that's necessary?'  
'It _probably_ isn't, but I find it best not to underestimate them. They have exceeded all of my expectations so far, so we might as well avoid any kind of risk.'  
'Makes sense.'  
'Thank you sergeant. We'll be back soon.'  
'Seeya Tammy!'  
This one was from Felix. She kissed him, waved him goodbye and found herself alone. She readied her cruiser and opened the office door.  
It was a small room with large windows that broadcast a wonderful view of the landscape. A dozen screens or so were padded to the wall, all connected to a big computer.  
'Security cameras. So that's how Daisy found out they had escaped,' she muttered to herself.  
She stared at the screen featuring the basement. The cages were nothing but debris. She then cast a glance at the first floor's hallway. Ralph and Sonia were already fighting. She'd better get moving, and fast.

There was a wooden cupboard in one of the corners. The box had been locked into it after being used to craft the torpedos and race cars earlier in the night.  
Tamora opened the lock and stared at the black box for ten seconds or so. Then, she closed the cupboard and put the lock back on.  
She wasn't going to move the box. Her reasoning was that if Ralph and the kid had enough determination to get past _her_ , maybe they deserved to win what they had fought for.  
Maybe.  
She left the office, closed the door, and readied her gun.

They would have to actually get past her first, though. And that would never happen.


	10. Guilt

'Ah, great. I had to endure _Street Fighter_ yesterday and now I have to deal with _Mortal Kombat_. Perfect.'  
'I hope the combat isn't actually _mortal_ today,' Sonya replied. 'But it will definitely get unpleasant if you step any further.'  
'Yeah yeah, I know the drill, let's get this over with already! I don't have much time.'  
'As you wish.'  
Ralph carefully placed Vanellope on the pixelated floor, far enough from the fighting zone in hope that she wouldn't get hurt.  
Sonya was staring at him curiously, blocking the way to the staircase. He briefly wondered what her motive was. A specific grudge against humans? A distate for her game, her position? Or maybe she just liked New Liberty. Whichever the case, he didn't bother asking.  
She crafted a simple wood stick, jumped in the air, and hit. Her movements were swift and precise. Ralph tried to use his hands as a shield, but she always hit where he didn't expect, targetting at his wounds.  
After five minutes of that treatment, the giant collapsed, making the walls shake.  
'Hmm,' Sonya muttered. 'Not that bad all things considered. I suppose he is tired from his previous battles. It's understandable, after all.'  
There was a tiny metallic sound. She looked down, and realized huge chains were about to grasp her feet. She jumped backwards - the chains locked around nothing and disappeared.  
'Oh. So you _are_ a sly dog after all. I almost fell for that one. Nice.'  
She smiled. Ralph painfully got up and stared at her in disgust. His face was awful with all its bruises and the dried blood under his nose.  
He looked tired and dejected, but not yet ready to give up.  
'Hey, don't forget to smile, if you want to be a hero,' she advised.  
'What?'  
He shook his face and attacked. He was both weak and slow. Sonya had no trouble dodging to the left. All she had to do was jump on his shoulder, then onto the floor, and kick him in the shins. He would drop to his knees, and with one final blow at the back of his neck, Ralph would be gone to sleep for three solid hours.  
But things didn't go as planned. Before she hit the floor, Ralph grasped her ankle and threw her against the wall.  
Had he predicted her movement somehow?  
She managed to land on her feet, but her back had been hurt.  
_'He's gonna use the wall technique,'_ she thought.  
She had seen Ralph fight - the headquarters were equipped with observation tools. He usually waited for the enemy to strike, and crafted a wall in his way, both to protect himself and hurt his foe.  
She jumped, and indeed, the wall appeared in her way.  
She put a hand on the brick, and the wall disintegrated on itself. Ralph's eyes widened in shock. She hit him twice, and he fell on his back.  
'Ah yes, I forgot to mention,' she said as she sat on his chest. 'I'm absolutely terrible at crafting - I can only make the most simple objects. But my speciality is destruction. Whatever you craft, I'll break. It's pretty ironic I suppose.'  
'Get... off... me...'  
'I don't want to.'  
'Get off!'  
He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her away. But he didn't get up.  
'Looks like you're all out of strength, big boy! So close to your objective, too. That's a real shame.'  
He grunted in frustration, and tried to get up. She slapped him with so much strength that he fell right back.  
Sonya drew a tissue from her back pocket and rubbed his face of the dried blood.  
'You're so tense... something is troubling you, am I right?'  
'What are you doing?' He asked menacingly.  
'Well, it's not because we're enemies that I have to be mean to you.'  
'Huh?'  
He was confused, but didn't move.  
'What even happened to you?' She asked as she applied a tiny bandage to his nose. 'You have so many wounds, it's almost absurd. It hasn't been caused by an ordinary weapon, that at least I can tell.'

She unbuttoned his polo shirt, wondering if his chest was hurt as well. What she found was a heart-shaped cookie.  
' _To stinkbrain_... what is that?'  
Without thinking, she took it off and examined it closer.  
' _You're my hero_... that's sweet.'  
'Hey, give that back!'  
He sprung to his feet in an instant and tried to snatch the cookie away from her. Sonya was so startled that she took it away and kicked him in the face.  
He screamed, covered his bleeding mouth with his right hand and kept hitting her with the left one.  
'Give it back, please!'  
He fell to his knees, looking desperate and ready to start crying.  
'It's precious to me, I... I need it... you don't understand what it means to me!'  
His voice was shaking with fear.  
Sonya thought about it for a second. This man was clearly under a lot more pressure than she had originally guessed. What could be weighing on him so heavily?  
She cast a quick glance at the child resting on the floor beneath her. She noticed that Vanellope had opened her eyes.  
'Oh, I get it!' She suddenly exclaimed, staring back at Ralph, who was kneeling in front of her. 'It's guilt. That heavy pressure on you, the burden you carry... it's guilt. What have you _done_?'  
'What? You...'  
'It is related to this child, isn't it? To your adventure in Sugar Rush, five weeks ago.'  
'Shut up, you don't understand anything, you...'  
'You nearly brought destruction onto her world once, by bringing a cy-bug into its caves. And now that it is threatened again... oh right, it's your fault too, isn't it? You're the reason we had to flee the arcade. And all for such a small mistake... poor thing, poor thing. I feel bad for you Ralph.'  
She dropped the cookie medal in front of him, but he didn't seem to see it. He looked like he had been slapped, robbed and humiliated.  
Vanellope got up, grabbed the cookie medal, and tied it around his neck again.  
'Ralph, is that true? Everything you've done so far, you've done it for me because you feel guilty?'  
He seemed to wake up.  
'What? No!'  
Vanellope raised an eyebrow. Sonya looked surprised. He got up.  
'You don't understand a thing!' He yelled at the fighter woman. 'I'm not driven by guilt! I'm driven by _pity_.'  
He spit the last word like some ugly thing.  
'Pity?'  
'Yeah, because you're all about to do a _huge_ mistake, much bigger than mine, and I don't want you to feel the way I did! I don't want you all to feel like worthless _garbage_! How many times do I need to tell you? My heart is in the right place! I know what I'm doing, and YOU will get _out of my way!'_  
He dashed forwards, and punched Sonya in the gut. Some would say that punching women was immoral, but Sonya was far from defenseless. Besides, she came from a fighting game - it was more than likely she was used to it.  
However, the hit surprised her. She fell on her back, pirouetted and got back on her feet.  
'Oh, that's it!'  
She crafted a metal bat and slapped Ralph twice, then kicked him in the knees and in the nose.  
_'One more and he goes down,'_ she thought.  
She hit him again.  
' _One more... one more... why is he so god damn sturdy?'_  
Ralph finally caught her wrist, and threw her to the floor. She got up swiftly, and hit him, but he blocked her blow with a shield.  
He was getting much faster. Sonya realized she had more and more trouble hitting him, and he was fighting back like a demon.  
Vanellope knew what was going on.

Fix-it Felix Jr. had twenty levels, before the activation of the bonus. The difficulty increased each time Ralph was tossed off the building. Near level fifteen, it was so hard to keep up the pace that Ralph was programmed to drop his train of thoughts and focus entirely on movement. This made him fast and strong enough to hold until level twenty.  
This phenomenon was known as berserk mode.  
After use, he usually collapsed from exhaustion.

Ralph would have hoped to live through the day without using it, because it meant losing control.  
But Sonya had given him no choice.  
She was completly overpowered, but she refused to give up. 

Vanellope knew she had to react quickly, before someone got killed. Ideally, if she could grab Sonya and throw her away, Ralph would snap out of berserk mode, thank her and fall asleep.  
But they were both going so fast, she could hardly make out any of their moves.  
'Ralph!' She yelled. 'Can you hear me?'  
No reaction. It was a bit scary.  
'Ralph, you big idiot! Stinkbrain! Major dungarees! React! Do something!'  
Still nothing. For a split second, she wondered if she wouldn't have to fight him _herself_. After all, berserk mode was not meant for life outside the game.  
How much time did they have left? She had no idea. For all she knew, it was already too late.  
'Ralph! You... urgh. You're really gonna make me say it, aren't you?'  
She took a few steps further.  
'Ralph please! You're my hero. Now stop!'  
He suddenly stopped moving.  
'Gotcha!' Sonya shouted triumphantly.  
She punched him at the base of his chin. He fell slowly, like an angel thrown away from heaven. Vanellope wondered for a second... could it be that he had winked at her?  
When he hit the floor, it shattered, and the whole building shook. But Vanellope was already on Sonya's back. She violently glitched backwards, and threw the woman all the way at the back of the hallway, where she hit the door and collapsed.  
'That's two fighters down. What a waste.'  
Vanellope glitched onto Ralph's belly, and winced. The damage was probably beyond any healing powers, including Felix's magic hammer. Yet he looked strangely peaceful in his... should she say coma? Sleep sounded better, but was probably less accurate.  
So now she had to destroy the box on her own. She had to face Felix and the sergeant on her own. She had to put an end to New Liberty on her own.  
'Well thanks Ralph, for bailing on me like that! I really appreciate.'  
Though he couldn't hear her, she instantly felt bad for what she had just said.  
'I mean... I guess it's my fault you had to fight that crazy woman on your own while I was napping. You got hurt so much because of me... I'm so sorry. But don't worry. I've got this. I'll make us proud. This way, I can be _your_ hero.'  
With that said, she walked out of the hallway and marched towards the staircase.  
If she recalled, the box was locked in a tiny office near the top of the building.  
On her way, she noticed a large window. It led to an oddly shaped balcony. It was at least fifteen feet long, and only two feet large.  
Someone was sitting near the edge. Someone she knew very well.  
'Saturday! I've been looking everywhere for you! Well, when I wasn't busy being jailed of course, so all in all I didn't search for you all _that_ bad. How you doin'?'  
He got up and turned to face her.  
'I am good, thank you for asking. You don't seem good however. You look both hurt physically and mentally.'  
'Worrying about someone else than Ralph? That update really changed you good. You almost look real now!'  
'I wish. But I know that I am not _real_ , as you say. The upgrade made me realize a lot of things. Some of them concern Ralph. Some of them concern you.'  
Vanellope frowned, then sighed.  
'I get it. They updated you to hate us. And now you'll want to get in my way.'  
'My feelings towards you are neutral, but I must indeed stop you. I now understand why it is necassary to be your enemy.'  
'You've gone full robot mode, huh? Sure, I'll fight you. Bring it on.'  
She readied herself for battle. But why, oh why did it hurt so much?

Saturday, what have they done to you?

 

 

 

**Author's note : about Sonya Blade**

**Yeah, so as you may have noticed, I don't know much about the character. Never played Mortal Kombat, never watched the show, read the comics or anything. So her personnality in this fanfic is completly made up.**

**However, this is the world of Wreck-it Ralph. It's not weird to consider that her personnality in game is only an act, and that outside the game she is someone else entirely.**

**I'm sorry if I went against your HCs!**

**Have a nice day, and thank you for reading this far.**


	11. Redemption

The sun never really moved, in New Liberty. It never rained either, except in specific parts of the universe, that Mary was busy developping in her own office. There were never any storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. Everything was calm and perfect.  
Tamora was starting to wonder if it wouldn't get a bit tedious after a few years. Or hours maybe.  
Not that she didn't have ideas as how to make the world more interesting. She had a list of things she wanted Mary to craft for her. The tower from her game, maybe a maze, an underground network full of traps and dangers...  
But it would all be fake, she knew it. Not that her previous life had been any less fake. She had only been born six weeks ago at any rate. People shouldn't expect too much of her, given the situation.  
'Tammy, look at this! Jiminey, it's awful, I can't believe this is really happening!'  
'Hmm?'  
Her husband had opened the door she was guarding, and was pointing at a screen.   
'Zoom a bit, I can't see anything.'  
'It's Ralph! Look at him!'  
'I can see that, but why do you... oh. Looks like he's taken a rough beating. Like a lizard stuck into a pumping engine. Sonya did this to him?'  
'Yes. Well no. Actually... she did half of that. The corruption did the rest.'  
'The corruption?'  
She realized Felix was crying. She scratched her neck, and sighed. She pulled him in for a hug. It was better to remain silent and let him speak.  
'When we locked them in the cells down there... the fog attacked them. It burned their skins and made them bleed. If they hadn't managed to break the cages they... they'd be...'  
He kept sobbing into her arms, unable to finish his sentence.  
'So that's how they got out. But it's not your fault, Felix. You had no idea this would happen.'  
'But I... I feel s-so bad! They'll never forgive us after s-something like this...'  
Tamora felt a pang of guilt cling around her heart. Though she believed they would be forgiven, it would leave a mark, and quite a big one. Ralph was not to be feared, but if they weren't careful, Vanellope might build a grudge against them, and things could get nasty.  
'Don't focus one what _might_ happen, Fix-it. Focus on the present. Ralph is asleep in the hallway, but where is the kid?'  
Felix breathed heavily and wiped his tears before answering.  
'Mary's creation is taking care of Vanellope.'  
'The robot child? Is that safe? I don't trust this thing. And to think they gave it a name!'  
'He has powers that no one else posesses, and Mary upgraded him to fight for us.'  
'And you trust her judgement?'  
'I... shouldn't I?'  
Tamora grunted in frustration.  
'She built a sentient being, something which has never been done before. We don't know what could happen.'  
'You think Vanellope is in trouble?'  
'I think I don't like it. Not at all.'  
She crossed her arms and rested against the door. This was easily one of the worst days she had had in a while.  
'But all our fighters are down,' Felix countered. 'And if we can't lock them up, the only thing to do is hold them back!'  
' _I_ could handle this.'  
'But your orders are to guard the box...'  
'Screw my orders! Look how many people got hurt from yesterday to now. All this trouble could have been easily avoided if I had been assigned to fight them in the first place!'  
'Can't you give Saturday a chance?' Felix pleaded. 'Look at the screens at least. See how he's doing. Vanellope's glitch can be a bit... tricky, but with his powers he might be able to neutralize it!'  
Tamora gave it some thought. She kicked the door, stared at the screens, and realized she couldn't find them anywhere.  
'They're nowhere on the security cameras!'  
'It's normal. They're fighting on the balcony.'  
'Daisy. Didn't notice you there.'  
'I like to keep quiet. Anyway, I heard you plan to challenge my orders?'  
'You heard me,' the sergeant replied, unafraid and unperturbed.  
'Well, your husband had a request for you. I suggest you hear it first.'

Tamora turned to Felix with a menacing look.  
'Ah. So you want something, but you need my permission first. This should be interesting.'  
'Please Tammy, don't make this more complicated than it already is,' the little man complained nervously.  
'I'm listening.'  
'I... I need to get down there and heal Ralph with my hammer.'  
'No.'  
'But...'  
'You asked for my permission, and I said no. End of the argument.'  
'But Tammy...'  
'Don't "Tammy" me, Fix-it! You realize what Ralph has been through in one night and morning? He's been beaten up, betrayed, tazed, jailed, eaten away by fog and beaten up again! When he wakes up, he's gonna be _furious_. And you'll be there, alone and defenseless because I have to stay here to guard the door! No flex on this one sir. You're not going anywhere.'  
'But...'  
Felix seemed to be struggling to keep calm.  
'That's the point! We've all been so awful to him, there's no excuse for what we have done. The least we can do is repare the damage that we've caused! Have you seen his wounds? He was never meant to fight like this, for all we know he could die!'  
'Besides, Sonya needs treatment as well,' Daisy absent-mindedly commented from her position.  
'Can't you just wait?' Tamora shouted angrily. 'The arcade opens in like, one hour. One hour! He's not bleeding to death. He just needs to sleep a bit.'  
'Good heavens Tammy he is no soldier!'  
'Neither are you. Look, today is no ordinary day. I don't know what went through Ralph's mind but he's been absolutely reckless since yesterday night. Never seen so much determination crammed into one being. I just don't want you to get hurt!'  
'He would never hurt me. Trust me on this one, I've known him for thirty years.'  
'Has he ever behaved like he did today in thirty years?'  
'Well no but...'  
'Besides, need I remind you that five weeks ago you weren't even able to tell me why he had suddenly abandoned his game and invaded mine?'  
'That's unfair, I mean, who could have predicted something like that?'  
'Even assuming you're right... wait no, this doesn't make sense. I mean, honey. He spent every day for thirty years trying to dump bricks on your head. And you keep saying he could never hurt you? It it were me I might hurt you purely from _habit_ , so don't imagine what would happen if you gave me a reason!'  
'That's enough.'  
Daisy's voice was calm, but it had icy undertones.  
'Felix needs to get down there and heal Sonya, so he might as well make a stop for Ralph. He can check that Saturday is doing okay while he's at it. We'll be following him via the security cameras, and if anything happens, it'll be easy to plan a rescue. Understood?'  
'Yes ma'am!' Felix said as he saluted. 'I won't disappoint you.'  
Tamora grunted.  
'Don't come crying if he bites you in the leg,' she said after a few seconds.  
'I love you Tammy!'  
'Yeah, yeah, I heard the news.'  
He ran towards the staircase, and disappeared from her sight.  
'Do you want to come in and check the cameras?' Daisy offered politely.  
'You can just warn me when something happens.'  
'Of course.'

***

'Hey wait. Before we start fighting I have a lil' question in mind.'  
'Ask away,' Saturday said.  
'How did the upgrade go? What did they do to you exactly? You still remember yesterday night and stuff, or it's just gone?'  
'I have kept the memories of my previous self, if that is what you're asking. The rest - what I believe, like, know - has changed.'  
'Previous self? _That bad?'_  
'I am no longer the kid you knew. I am no longer Saturday - in fact, they have changed my name. I am now Sunday, the child that will bring peace and eternal freedom to the Arcade.'  
She snorted.  
'Boy, you takin' this so seriously! Get a grip, sunny boy. You were literally born a few hours ago.'  
'And yet I know more than you about how to make people happy.'  
'All you know is what they planted in your head! They could plant something else tomorrow, and then again the day after. It means nothing.'  
That comment seemed to anger him a bit. Vanellope wondered if she could shake the upgrade and bring back the Saturday she knew. Not that she cared all that much about the kid, but his powers were beyond terrifying.

'You're wrong, and I need to stop you. Nothing else matters. Stop talking.'  
He closed his fist. She felt her body split - it was the exact same thing that had happened to Kohut.  
'Hey! I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to kill me!' She yelled desperatly.  
He opened his hand. Her body reassembled on itself, and she fell to her knees.  
She glitched behind Sunday, and kicked him in the face, then glitched back to her original position.  
The balcony was narrow. One wrong step and she would fall two stories down.  
He crafted glitch-proof chains, and threw them at her. She dodged them by jumping into the air, but he kept making more and more, until there wasn't an itch of the balcony that wasn't covered in chains.  
Eventually, she had to fall down.  
'Now I have you!' He shouted triumphantly as he locked her arms and legs. ' _Finally_ , this pointless rebellion is over.'  
Vanellope hated the chains. They made her feel heavy, cold and claustrophobic.  
'You don't have to do this,' she complained.  
'On the contrary! It is my duty and my honor.'  
'Ah, so they implanted _honor_ into you? That's interesting. And your honor doesn't make you feel bad about betraying your dad?'  
Sunday looked at her in disgust.  
'I don't know what you're talking about. Stop being ridiculous. I might have shown signs of affection towards Ralph in the past, but it doesn't mean anything to me now.'  
' _Really_ now? You should be careful. It's Ralph. He doesn't look like much at first, but the guy grows on you 'till you start wondering what you'd do without him.'  
'Speak for yourself. I am unconcerned.'  
'If you're anything like a real child, you should be! He's the only one who's shown real affection for you after all. The others think you're a useful tool, at best.'  
'What? How can you... say things like this?'  
Vanellope realized the chains were fading. Sunday had the power to make permanent creations - their destruction was probably a sign of his unstable state. She was far from being free, but maybe things weren't as desperate as she had thought.  
'Me? I'm just having a chat with you because I don't have anything better to do, since you caught me, y'know? But you have to admit I'm right. No one likes you. You're too weird for them.'  
She knew she was being cruel, but she couldn't think of a better way out. And she was running out of time.   
'It's not true!' He shouted, a bit louder than intended.  
'Stop lying to yourself. C'mon, I know you were literally born yesterday, but you must have noticed. You were built to prove a point. I know it, because I was there. Once you become useless, they'll get rid of you.'  
'That is not true! I will show them that I can be useful. And then they will like me.'  
'Oh? You're sure of that?'  
'Yes. I am utterly convinced that they will reward my good actions.'  
'You don't need Ralph at all, then?'  
'No, I don't. He is a thing of the past.'  
Vanellope sighed dramatically.  
'Poor guy is going to be heartbroken. You know what's the first thing he asked when they put us in jail?'  
'I don't care!'  
'He asked if you were safe! He should have saved his breath.'  
Sunday looked like he had been slapped. Vanellope was almost free. Just a bit further, and she would be out. She didn't care how much she needed to hurt Sunday in order to get out.  
'You're lying!' He screamed, a hand on his forehead. 'You're just saying that to upset me!'  
'Oh, I _am_ saying that to upset you. But it is still true! So sad.'  
It was at this moment that Felix hopped onto the balcony.  
'Saturday, are you doing okay?' He asked politely.  
The child turned to him with a shocked expression.  
'Yes yes, everything is under control, as you required, sir!'  
'Good,' Felix answered, barely looking at him. 'Vanellope are you all right?'  
'Because you care about that now?' She replied coldly.  
The handyman winced.  
'I'm sorry for everything. It'll all be over soon, I promise.'  
'Stop talking. The more you talk, the more I want to slap you.'  
Seing Felix had reminded Vanellope how angry she was. She wanted him to get out as soon as possible before she said anything she would regret later.  
Felix took a step back, and was about to leave the balcony when Sunday grabbed his sleeve. He looked surprised, ad if he had already forgotten about the child.  
'Ralph, is he okay? Did you guys hurt him?'  
The child's voice was shaking slightly, but he was trying to hide it. Vanellope realized while she felt so bad. Despite everything, Sunday was nothing but a confused child manipulated by adults. And Felix was oblivious to his pain.  
'Yes, he is hurt,' he replied guiltily. 'He needs medical care urgently.'  
Vanellope wished she could read Sunday's face in this very instant. But the child was turning his back on her.  
'You... what... my dad... what did you _do_ to him?'  
He sounded more scared than angry. Vanellope's arms were free - and her legs would be in a few seconds.  
'Your dad?'   
Felix seemed to be only now realizing that something was off.  
' _Murderers_!' Sunday yelled.  
He crafted a giant metallic gauntlet around his right hand and punched Felix in the gut. The little man was thrown against the wall, screaming in pain. Vanellope finally managed to get rid of the chains. She jumped on Sunday's back and glitched backwards. She nearly slipped and fell off the balcony.  
'Let me go!' Sunday roared. 'I'm going to kill him!'  
'No you big idiot, stop struggling, you'll make us-'  
She felt the ground disappear under her feet. She screamed in terror. Her glitch reacted by throwing her into the air, again and again, but she was getting further from the balcony with each jump.  
Realizing her terror, Sunday crafted a parachute as to soften their fall. They landed right into the dark fog.  
'Huh? Why is the corruption here? I thought it was limited to the caves,' Sunday said as he scratched his head.  
'Aah! Get me back onto that balcony right now!' Vanellope screamed.  
She was glitching so much that Sunday might have contracted epilepsia just from staring at her.  
'Calm down, it's just corruption, we've been through it already.'  
'Yes! I know! And last time I've been in it, it _ate my skin!'_  
'What? It shouldn't do that.'  
'I don't care what it should or shouldn't do, take me away from here!'  
'Okay okay, calm down.'  
He crafted a ladder that led directly to the balcony. Vanellope glitched onto it and climbed as fast as she could. Sunday sighed and went after her. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

***

After the first hit, Felix expected to be punched again, again and again until he would be nothing but Felix-shaped bruise, or a Felix-shaped corpse. But to his astonishment, nothing else happened. He was hurt, but still in good shape.  
He ran downstairs as fast as his little legs would carry him, until he found the hallway where Sonya and Ralph had fought.  
Now who to heal first?  
His heart pointed to Ralph, but he had been taught to always serve women first, as a true gentleman should.  
With an anxious hop, he examined the woman. To his astonishment, she was mostly fine. Her back was hurt, and she had been punched in the gut a few times. She had taken a nasty blow at the back of the head - everything was fixed in a matter of seconds, but she didn't wake up. He wiped his forehead of the sweat, and breathed in relief.  
'Now to take care of Ralph... c'mon, it's going to be all right. Wait a minute, where did he go?!'  
The wrecker had disappeared and left a trail of blood behind him. Felix screamed in terror and ran after him.  
'Ralph, you shouldn't be walking when you're in such a bad state!' He squeaked.  
He arrived at the base of the stairs. Ralph was only a few steps ahead, barely keeping himself together. He was resting against the wall, a hand on his chest and breathing heavily.  
Felix felt his heart shatter. He couldn't bear to watch his friend like this.  
He held his hammer as a peace offering. Ralph nodded and sat down.  
Felix tried to scan for injuries. It was like trying to find a single water drop in a lake. There was too much to look at.  
He started with the face, fixing the broken nose, the black eye, the bloody mouth. Then he took care of the hands, and the feet.

He was doing what he had always been meant to do. Fixing.  
'Ralph, could you please take off your top? I need to examine it too.'  
Ralph obeyed silently. He was feeling much better - it felt like his strength was flooding back into his muscles.  
As Felix fixed Ralph, he realized he had never seen him shirtless. He was exactly what one could imagine - strong and sturdy and a bit round in the lower section.  
The situation was surreal. Both men felt like they had been taken away from time and the current situation to have this quiet moment for themselves.  
But it couldn't last.  
'Thanks Felix,' Ralph muttered as he put his polo back on. 'You know where Vanellope is?'  
Felix didn't want to answer, but he had no choice.  
'Mary's child is taking care of her,' he replied anxiously.  
'Saturday? But why... oh no. The upgrade. What have you _done_ to him?'  
'It was just a bit of reprograming, nothing huge!'  
'You're using him? Against his will? For hell's sake, he's only a kid! You've all gone _mad_ or what? I need to find him.'  
'No!'  
Felix tried to put himself in Ralph's way.  
'You can't go now, you have to rest! Please, I can't stand more violence.'  
'It's a bit too late too feel guilty now,' Ralph replied sourly. 'Move aside.'  
'No, I won't! Ralph, don't you remember what you told me when you rescued me from prison? That trying to be the good guy had done nothing to you, because you are fated to be a bad guy! And today you are making the same mistake, once more. Have you forgotten already?'  
Ralph laughed. It was a strangely cold, joyless laugh.  
'Oh, I haven't forgotten. But I ain't trying to be the good guy. This job is perfect for me! I'm destroying what you've built. For your own sake, granted, and I still think this is the right thing to do, but it is _definitely_ a bad guy job.'  
Felix took a step back. He had nothing to reply to that. Ralph grabbed him by the collar and raised him to his face's level.  
'Now you'll go and tell your wife that I'm ready to fight her.'  
'I don't have to do that! I could fight you myself.'  
'Right after you healed me? It wouldn't make much sense, admit it.'  
'I'll do whatever it takes,' Felix shouted without conviction.  
Ralph remained silent for a few seconds.  
'There's something else, isn't there?' He asked softly. 'Something is bothering you, I can tell. Something you haven't told anyone.'  
Felix's eyes widened in fear. He had never been a liar. He was physically incapable of lying. He had to tell him. But...  
Footsteps interrupted his train of thoughts. Ralph dropped him and he turned around to see who was coming.  
'Ralph! Are you okay?'  
The giant blinked.  
'Saturday? Vanellope! What is going on?'  
The child jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. Vanellope followed, looking something in between upset and bored. Felix trailed off discretly, but was unable to avoid Vanellope's deadly glare.  
'I thought you guys were fighting each other, what happened?' Ralph asked confusely.  
'They ordered him to capture me,' Vanellope explained. But I got him back on our side. You're welcome.'  
Judging by her bitter expression, it didn't seem like she had been having a great time.

'Thanks kid. Felix fixed me up again, so I guess we're good to go.'  
'Ready for the final boss?' She asked.  
'I've never been more ready. But before we go, let's find a quiet place to talk.'  
'What do you mean?' Vanellope asked, frowning.  
Then she realized.  
'Oh, the security cameras.'  
'I can take care of that!' Saturday offered, finally pulling away from Ralph.  
He raised an arm, and every camera in the hallway shattered to pieces.  
'That's handy,' Ralph commented. 'I'm glad you're on our side, buddy.'  
The child beamed.  
'So what is it you were about to say?' Vanellope asked.  
'Sit down, both of you. Defeating Calhoun is going to be the biggest challenge in our journey, but I have a plan.'


	12. The boss level

Tamora had gathered a few of her favorite guns on a nearby table. Not that she would be using any of her most lethal weapons in a fight against her best friends. They were just here for luck.  
'They're coming,' Felix whispered. 'Are you gonna be okay?'  
He didn't get any answer. When he looked up, he noticed his wife was smiling. It was a special smile - he had only seen it a few times before. It was the smile that Tamora had when she was in a state of uncontrolable fury.  
However she didn't seem furious to him. She was shivering with excitement.  
'Oh lord,' he whispered anxiously.  
Ralph entered the room first, seemingly alone. He looked behind him awkwardly, then took a few steps forward.  
'I'm ready to fight,' he announced.  
He had tried to sound calm, but it was obvious that he was apprehensive.  
'Do you think you can _ever_ be ready?' Tamora replied.  
Ralph winced. There was something about her tone that was deeply unsettling.  
Felix covered his eyes. There were a few things he couldn't stand, and watching two of his closest friends engage in a fight was one of them.  
'Please don't do this,' he pleaded. 'It's not too late to sit down and talk.'  
'Yes, it is,' Ralph and Tamora answered simultaneously.  
'I'm sorry that it had to come to this,' Ralph added. 'Very sorry.'  
'Because you're scared?' Tamora asked.  
'Of course I'm scared! I'm nearly wetting my pants, what did you expect?'  
'Fear is the first step towards defeat,' she replied viciously.  
'We'll see.'  
And just like that, the battle started. Tamora drew a gun and pointed it at Ralph's chest.  
'What... are you going to kill me?' He asked, sounding more perturbed than scared in this specific instant.  
'Nope, it's a special gun. Non lethal but it can do some pretty nasy damage. I asked Mary to craft it for me yesterday. I shoot you once and you'll be sleeping for a solid week.'  
'No, I don't think so.'  
Tamora realized her gun had snapped in half. The weapon had broken down and Ralph hadn't even touched it.  
The giant smiled.  
'Yes! Sonya was right, I can destroy things with my mind in this place! And all this time I bothered with sticks and shields when I could've simply followed my nature...'  
Tamora was still smiling.  
'Think you have already won, Wreck-it?'  
She brutally punched him in the jaw, then kicked him in the gut. But before her foot landed in Ralph's flesh, her foot got caught in something. It was a rope. Ralph was trying to tie her down.  
No, it couldn't be Ralph. The attack had been too precise. It had to be Vanellope or the robot child.  
Of course. Why should they fight fair, after all?   
She jumped backwards, and scanned the room in search of the kids. She found three possible spots where they could be hiding. All she had to do was inspect them one by one.  
She noticed the floor under her feet was getting slippery. Someone was covering it with ice. Felix stumbled and fell, but she knew how to keep her balance.  
Ralph was not moving from his spot. He seemed to be waiting for her to attack.  
He would be waiting for her a bit longer. She had to find the robot child first. He was currently throwing chains in her direction.  
She dashed to the side, used the ice to gain speed and found herself in the first potential hiding spot.  
It was empty. Two more to check.  
Ralph was still waiting. It had been agreed that their best bet was to let Saturday catch Tamora. Ralph was only here to attract her attention.   
But if he didn't do anything, she would find Saturday and neutralize him.  
And Saturday was their best card. If they lost him, Ralph would be defenseless.  
So he took a cautious step towards the door, then another one. Always draw her attention.  
It worked. Tamora gave up her search in order to stop him. Saturday tried to lock her arms with ropes again, but she crafted a quick knife and cut them. He made the floor collapse under her feet, but she jumped in the air.  
Ralph caught her mid-flight and sent her flying all the way across the room.  
So far, their strategy was working, but Ralph knew it wasn't over. The woman landed graciously on her feet. She didn't seem frustrated that most of her attacks had been countered. It made things more exciting for her.  
Chains were wrapping around her ankle, but she dodged them easily. In a matter of seconds, she had crossed the room and was on Ralph again. Saturday built a platform over Tamora's head. Ralph climbed onto it and jumped away from her. But he barely had time to land that something caught both of his legs, making him stumble.  
'You thought you were the only one to use fancy gadgets?' Tamora asked.  
She pressed a button. The chains that were restraining Ralph's legs suddenly ached and burned. He yelled, and pulled so hard that it broke.  
'Impressive. So your legs are as strong as your arms, then? I'll make sure to remember that.'  
Five more minutes passed. Each time Tamora attacked, Saturday found a way to shield Ralph from the assault, and the giant would either get away, or push _her_ away. When they were apart, Saturday would try to catch Tamora without harming her.  
He was gradually getting more and more frustrated. His attacks became less precise as anger got the better of him.  
Ralph was already exhausted, but the sergeant looked like she could still run a marathon if needed. But nothing had gone wrong so far - he had just to hold on for a little longer.  
She assaulted him once more. Ralph waited for Saturday's protection, but it came too late. She punched him twice in the face and kicked him in the privates strong enough to propulse him against the wall.  
He fell to the floor, whining and crying.  
Tamora knew that this was her chance. She ran towards Saturday's hiding place. He crafted traps for her to fall into, but they were messy and easy to avoid.  
The hiding spot was a window covered by a heavy curtain. She tore it open and found the two children, blinking at her in shock.  
Saturday immediatly drew a barrier to protect himself. She reacted by crafting a giant axe. Hitting the barrier twice was enough to make it shatter.  
She felt something cold pass her by, along with a flicker of blue pixels.  
Vanellope, of course. That was her assigned role in this fight. Protecting Saturday at all costs. They had betted _everything_ on him.  
She was going to prove them that they had chosen wrong.

Ralph was slowly getting up. She punched him down once more, and grabbed his arm.  
'Okay kids, you'd better stop playing hide and seek with me, or I'll break his arm.'  
'Tammy!' Felix screamed in shock.  
She ignored him. A threat was coming.  
Saturday was trying to grab her arm with a rope again. She kneeled down to avoid it and snapped Ralph's arm in two.  
It made an awful noise. Loud enough for everyone to hear, it made Vanellope shiver. Ralph yelled in pain. Felix covered his ears and closed his eyes. Saturday looked horrified.   
Vanellope had taken him behind a bookshelf. She realized a second too late that he was going to come out. She tried to grab his arm but he was already out, charging and yelling.  
But before he reached Tamora, Ralph had already kicked her so hard that her armor broke in half.  
For the first time since the beginning of the fight, she looked genuinely surprised, and hurt.  
Silence lasted for a short time, until she kicked Ralph once more, thinking he would be knocked down for good and she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.  
Saturday got mad. Fire rose up all around him. Felix had to get up and hide into the office so he wouldn't get burned. Even from behind her bookshelf, Vanellope could feel the heat rising.  
That had never been part of the plan. But no one had expected Tamora to actually break Ralph's arm. Of course she probably counted on Felix's hammer to fix it later, but it was still something she was going to have to answer to later.  
Saturday attacked. The room was catching fire rapidly. Soon Tamora would have nowhere to escape to. She summoned water to protect herself, but she didn't know if it would be enough.  
She realized that the only way to remain safe was to lie directly on Ralph's body. She did so - Saturday's fury increased immediatly.  
'How _dare_ you! How dare you use his body as a shield, after what you did to him!'  
'Why are you even trying to protect him?' She countered. 'His goal is to destroy the box. If he succeeds, you will die along with New Liberty!'  
Saturday looked taken aback. He hadn't thought of that. Was it true? Had Ralph lied to him, just like everyone else in his life?  
He fell to his knees, the fire dying around him.   
Tamora quickly crafted a syringe, and planted it into his neck. He fell asleep almost immediatly. She carried him away from the battlefield, placed him gently on the floor, then stood up.  
'Vanellope? Come out now. It's just you and me.'  
The little girl didn't know what to do. She had promised Ralph she would wait for the signal. The signal, she _had_ to hear it from him. It was important.  
'Should I consider you have given up, then?' She asked.  
'After all we've been through, you think we would... give up now?'  
This one was from Ralph. He had gotten to his feet and was holding his injured arm with his hand.  
'Don't make me do this,' Tamora replied. 'You can't win and you know it.'  
'I have to try. For your sake.'  
'For my..?'  
He charged. It was really sad to look at. He didn't fight all that bad, considering his situation, but it would never suffice. Tamora beat him down, tore his clothes apart. But no matter what she did, he refused to give up. He always got up again, and Tamora had to hit him harder, and harder each time.  
'Give up, you fool! Why won't you give up? What do you hope to achieve?'  
It was as if he had gone deaf. His face was almost unrecognizable from all the bruises and all the blood.  
Tamora was disgusted at herself, but he wasn't going to force her to surrender simply by being miserable. He should know it couldn't work, not with her.  
Out of nowhere, he managed to grab her arm and throw her against a window.  
'I am bad, and that's good!' He yelled. 'I will never be good and that's not bad.'  
Tamora got back up and slapped him.  
'There's no one I'd rather be...'  
She slapped him again.  
He fell like a dead man, splashing blood on the marble floor.  
'I win,' Tamora said.  
She sounded disgusted. Felix quickly got out of the office, drew his hammer, and starting healing him, shaking with fear and sobbing.  
'Not yet. I'm still here!'  
Vanellope had come out of her hiding place, and was facing the sergeant, arms crossed. She couldn't wait any longer. The signal was "my heart is in the right place", so she technically didn't have Ralph's approval for what she was about to do. But he was lying unconscious on the floor, and it had been _his_ plan after all.  
She was shaking with fury. Ralph only recited the bad guy mantra when he thought he was about to die. To interrupt him before he could finish... it was unacceptable. _Disgusting_.  
Tamora no longer looked amused. She looked tired and upset.  
'Why didn't you help him when he needed you?' She asked, a hand on her forehead.  
'You'll find out,' Vanellope replied darkly.  
And that said, she disappeared in a flicker of light. Tamora blinked, instantly adopting a defensive position. Vanellope was glitching around her at such a speed that all that all Tamora could see was a faint blue trail. She tried to craft a wall in her way, but the kid just glitched through it.  
Meanwhile, Felix was almost done fixing Ralph. Both men were having one of the worst days in their life, but for very different reasons.  
Ralph grunted in pain, then realized he was feeling fine. Once more, it was as if he had just woken up after a full night of sleep.  
'No, don't move!' Felix begged him. 'You lost once, _please_ don't fight her again! My heart won't ever recover if you fight again.'  
Ralph ignored him. He was staring at the blue trail. He turned his face towards Felix, and whispered :  
'I apologize in advance for what she is about to do. It is probable that you two will never forgive us, but err... yeah, we've tried everything else, and it didn't work.'  
'What does that mean?' Felix asked, sounding terrified.  
Vanellope was spinning even faster now. Tamora tried hitting her a few times, changed her position, moved, but nothing diverted the little girl of her track.  
Suddenly, time seemed to freeze. Vanellope landed on the sergeant's shoulder, and whispered :  
'Hey there. Anyone told you you were quite a **dynamite gal?** '  
Tamora screamed. The bastards. How dare they...  
Her mind had been programmed to trigger her backstory every time someone mentioned certain key words. But she had to fight it. She couldn't let this happen. It was her only weakness, they couldn't...  
But Vanellope was suddenly on her shoulder again.  
'Tell me sergeant, how does it feel when a cy-bug _eats your husband alive?_ Good?'  
She screamed again, and fell to her knees, covering her ears with her hands.  
 _Don't let it get to you, fight it, don't relive the past, don't-_  
A familiar voice interrupted her train of obsessive thoughts.  
'Tammy! I'm here, focus on my voice! Don't let it consume you... Tammy, I love you! Can you hear me?'  
Felix... if she focused on his presence, on her love for him, she might be able to snap out of the...  
'How cute, your husband wants to help!'  
Vanellope laughed, but there wasn't an ounce of joy in her tone.  
'Poor thing, infested with the most _tragic_ backstory. Shall we talk about what happens _after_ the backstory, though? The part you never mention to anyone. The part only your soldiers know about. Do you want to talk about it?'  
Tamora was starting to panick. How did they know? How... who had told them? She had to fight it, but she could no longer hear Felix's voice, she was alone in the darkness-  
'When the cy-bug ate Brad, your first reflex was to shoot it,' Vanellope continued, her voice colder than ice. 'But everyone knows cy-bugs become what they eat... one way or another, your husband was _still in there._ And he begged you, didn't he? **Please don't kill me, Tammy...'**

It was too much to bear.

Suddenly, Tamora was at the church again. She could see everything, her proud husband, the crowd of guests, the orange light, her white dress, the priest. The glass shattered like it did every time she had to relive this memory. Suddenly Brad was gone, eaten by the disgusting insect, and she was shooting at him, as she cried in fear and anger.   
That was where the backstory ended, but her life hadn't ended there. The bullets were not enough to pierce through the cy-bug's skin, so it transformed.  
It had Brad's face, the dark pattern of his wedding attire. Deep down, she knew that the man she loved was gone. His mind had been be distorded by the cy-bug's evil nature.  
But when it begged for mercy, she really felt that he could still be in there. And she shot it in the head. Once. That was all she needed. The creature's carcass fell sideways, and the room fell silent.  
'What else could you have done?'  
The voice came from somewhere in the crowd. Who had spoken? She had no idea.  
'What else could you have done?'  
She crossed the room through the alley without looking back.  
'What else could you have done?'  
It was Felix. She knew his voice. He was staring at her with a curious expression.  
'What else Tammy?'

They were outside now. She looked beyond him. The sun was setting on the faraway mountains.  
'What else could I've done? I don't know,' she said. 'It's pointless to ask now.'  
He smiled at her.  
'That's what I wanted to hear.'  
He then slowly faded, along with the sun, the mountains, and the church. And she was left with nothing but darkness.


	13. The truth

The New Liberty headquarters had changed. Instead of the marble floor and large windows, there were benches, golden walls and smashed glass all over the place. Tamora's mind had turned the place into the church where she and Brad had gotten married. Silence had fallen over the scene once again.  
Tamora was lying unconscious at the center. Vanellope was standing next to her. Her eyes reflected nothing.  
Felix ran towards his wife, hugging and calling her. She didn't wake up. Ralph looked at the broken window sadly.  
The door to Daisy's office was still there, along with the staircase that led to the lower floors. Ralph knew the way. But there was still something that he had to do before wrecking the box.  
He stood up and took two tired steps towards his friend. Vanellope jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.  
'We're sorry for what we did, Felix.'  
He obtained no response.  
'Kid, I'm going to wreck the box. But before that, I need you to do something for me.'  
Vanellope showed no sign that she had heard him, but he knew she was listening.  
'You'll have to take Saturday to Sugar Rush, and make sure he's safe there. If my theory is right, the code will register him and he'll survive despite the box being broken. Can you do that for me?'  
'I would, but he ran away.'  
'What?'  
Ralph looked around the room, but the child was gone.  
'You have to find him, fast! Take the sergeant's cruiser and scan the area if you need to.'  
'How long do I have?'  
'I'm not sure... Felix, how long until the arcade opens?'  
No answer.  
'Felix!'  
'Twenty minutes.'  
Vanellope nodded.  
'Give me ten.'  
'Good luck, pal.'  
She jumped out of his arms. He wondered if she was too tired to glitch, after using it so much.  
Once she left, Ralph walked slowly towards the door, counting the seconds in his mind.  
'Ralph, wait!'  
Felix's distressed call made him stop dead on his track.  
'Please don't do this! I know I'm not powerful enough to stop you, but I beg you brother, don't go into that office!'  
'You're about to finally tell me what you've kept hidden from everyone?'  
'Yes. I'll tell you everything. But please, hear me out.'  
Ralph turned around and sat.  
'I'm listening. What's it you're so afraid of?'  
Felix seemed to be looking for the right words.  
'What Daisy told you yesterday - that the arcade was in danger because you went Turbo and inspired everybody to do the same - it was a lie.'  
Ralph grunted.  
'Yeah, I know that.'  
'So that's why... wait, _what_? You knew? For how long?'  
'Come on Felix, I may be slow but I'm not _stupid_. If there had been enough game-jumps to put the entire arcade at risk, I'd have noticed something, don't you think?'  
Ralph was trying to repress his anger, but it was clearly audible.  
'Now tell me the truth. No half-truth, no sugar-coating. Tell me _everything_.'  
Felix sighed deeply.  
'There is a defective component in Fix-it Felix junior. Mister Litwak called the repair man, but he said it's too old to be replaced. Our game could completly shut down at any moment - forever. We have two weeks at best.'  
Ralph took a moment to process the information. He had suspected something like this, but it was hard to hear it validated.  
'So that's why you so badly wanted New Liberty to succeed... you're afraid of dying.'  
Felix nodded, looking like he was going to cry.  
'Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't you tell me something so important?'  
'I tried, I swear, but the longer I waited, the more difficult it was, because I thought you would be mad at me for not telling you!'  
'Of course I'd be mad! I can't believe you sometimes.'  
Felix took off his hat, looking down at his wife's peaceful expression.  
'What are you going to do now?' He asked.  
'What do you think? I'm still going to wteck it.'  
Felix looked like he had been hit by lightning.  
'What? But Ralph, you know that-'  
'So what? I'm not spending the rest of eternity in this rotten nightmare.'  
'But we could die!'  
'And?'  
There was another silence.  
'You... you do not fear death,' Felix realized with a shocked expression.  
Ralph shrugged.  
'I already died once.'

And with that said, he kicked the door to Daisy's office, breaking it in half.


	14. Goodbye

When Ralph entered the office, Daisy was busy putting on plastic-like dark gloves. He had almost forgotten she was still there.

'Move aside,' he ordered, staring at the cupboard where the box was hidden.

'I don't have to,' she replied softly, flexing her long fingers one by one.

She sounded angry, for some reason.  
Ralph ignored her and opened the cupboard.

'Oh no you don't,' she snapped.

Ralph felt the ground shake under his bare feet. In a matter of seconds, the floor rose, expanded and a beautiful fountain appeared between him and Daisy.

'There we go,' she said happily. 'We need to talk for a bit, and I thought the roof would be a much more comfortable place than my tiny office. The box can stay down there though.'

'How did you...'

Ralph knew he was supposed to be furious, but confusion was stronger at the moment.

'Ah you see, earlier today, I asked the sergeant to move the box away, so even if you managed to actually beat her, you wouldn't have enough time to run back there and wreck it. When I realized she had disobeyed my orders, I took my time and built those tiny wonders,' she said as she showed off her gloves. 'They're just like the box, except I can carry them anywhere I want. Oh, and only I can use them. Because you know, I really like keeping power for myself. It might be why I decided to delete Mary's little creation... he was getting on my nerves.'

Ralph stayed silent upon this discovery. Saturday, gone. Deleted forever. It was hard to accept it.  
Then anger flared up.

'You monster,' he spat. 'Should've never trusted you!'

'You never did, actually. I guess that was clever of you, though in the end, you still lost.'

'Because you think I'm gonna give up now? I'm gonna kick your ass just like I did for everyone else, and finally wreck that stupid ass box!'

'Sure thing. You can try.'

He charged, yelling at the top of his lungs, crafting huge bricks that he threw in her face. With a small gesture, she made the bricks change direction and hit him instead. But bricks weren't satisfying enough, so she turned them into spears and pinned him to the floor.  
He saw a thin yellow line divide his body in two, and then felt it split. The feeling was indescribable. His shirt was torn in two, then his skin started splitting, and his flesh. It didn't hurt, it was merely... uncomfortable.  
Ralph grabbed one of the spears, and threw it at Daisy's face. She pushed it aside without even looking.

'You can't... you can't kill me,' he groaned, findind it hard to breathe.

'Yes, I can. With New Liberty's technology, I can _build_ another Ralph. A new, better Ralph who will agree with me on everything. He will be so perfect, _no one_ will even realize you're gone.'

'You're mad... you've gone bonkers!'

'Perhaps. I didn't expect I would need to go this far on my second day, but you have been asking for it.'

He yelled as his blood spilled on his gut. She was imposing her will on his body, but he had to resist. He could fight back. The stakes were higher than he had thought - if he died, Daisy could make whatever she wanted of this world and its inhabitants. And there was no way he let such a crazy megalomaniac in charge.  
The floor shattered around him, as a result of his mind's struggle. One of Daisy's gloves snapped in half, but she simply rebuilt it with her other hand.

'Stop struggling, it's pointless. You'll just make me waste a bit of my time, but why should I care? I will live forever. I have all the time I need. And you will die.'

The ground shook, but he didn't manage to break it.  
Suddenly, a dark mass appeared in his sight. Corruption pierced the building from underneath their feet and spread widely, breaking the fountain whose water spilled on Ralph's bare skin.

'What is the meaning of this?' Daisy shouted.

Ralph felt his body take back its original form. He breathed heavily and stood up. The fog was surrounding them, and with every attempt Daisy made to control it, it became thicker and more menacing.

'Stop using the gloves!' Ralph yelled. 'The corruption will destroy our bodies! If you want to survive, come with me!'

'You fool, you think I'm scared? I'm still going to kill you!'

Ralph untied the heart-shaped cookie from around his neck, and threw it at Daisy who was now completly surrounded.

'Someone gave me this gift when I needed it the most,' he shouted desperatly. Daisy, I beg you, be my hero and escape with me! It is not too late!'

She looked at the tiny medal. " _You're my hero"_ \- oh how good it felt to read these words. She felt a warm rush go through her body. But she didn't need Ralph to be a hero. When she became the queen of New Liberty, she would be the hero that had made heaven a reality. Everyone would praise her constantly - what was a lame cookie compared to that?  
She looked at Ralph with a wicked smile. Darkness had almost taken over her body.

'You're truly pathetic. Nothing can save you now. Not your heart, and none of your stupid gifts!'

She raised her hand and crushed the cookie between her fingers, laughing at Ralph's sad expression.  
She felt something click inside her palm. There was something at the heart of the cookie - a tiny black detonator.

'What is this...?'

'Moron. You destroyed the first medal when you tried to cut my body in two, remember?'

Ralph didn't even look happy. He had stealthily crafted a bomb and stuck it against Daisy's back. Ten seconds after she pressed the detonator, it exploded, breaking both of her gloves and knocking her out.  
Ralph caught her in his arms, staring at the nightmare that the roof of the building had become. The floor finally broke under his weight, and he landed painfully in the remains of Daisy's office.

'FELIX!' He shouted. 'BRACE YOURSELF!'

He didn't have the luxury to check if he had been heard. He smashed the box in one punch.

 

Everything turned to ash. The headquarters, the city, Taffyta's castle, everything vanished as soon as the box broke. Once again, there was nothing but a blue sea of numbers, and the shadow of a dark corrosive mist.  
Ralph felt stupid because he had been worried about the fall. Sighing and still carrying Daisy, he swam towards the area where Felix and Tamora had been.

'Guys! Are you okay?'

He obtained no answer. Tamora was still unconscious - Felix looked like he was miles away. He grabbed them both, and swam some more.  
He would never make it out fast enough at this pace, especially now that he had to carry three people.  
Therefore, he crafted thrusters around his feet. For a moment, he stumbled in mid-air, struggling to make them work properly. But he eventually managed to control them.  
There was a crowd of floating characters outside what used to be the headquarters. Among them, Ralph recognized Mary, Bowser and Sonya who cast him a curious glare.

'Everyone!' He yelled. 'The arcade will open soon! Run to your games as fast as you can!'

His thrusters were already dying, but he concentrated a bit and reconstructed them, then trailed off, checking that everybody was following him.  
He found Vanellope near the breach. She looked sorry about something.

'Ralph, I didn't find Saturday before you broke the box, I'm sorry, I looked but-'

He winced, and looked away.

'Not your fault kid. Daisy deleted him after our fight with the sergeant.'

'She did _what?'_

'We'll talk about this later, the arcade is about to open!'

'Yeah, about that... I guess you haven't seen Sugar Rush in a while, have you?'

'What happened?'

'You'd better come out and see for yourself.'

Ralph crossed the breach. It seemed like he hadn't been inside the arcade in years.  
There was nothing left of Sugar Rush. The game's code had been so badly infected that nothing looked right. Bits and pieces were assembled all wrongly, and pixels flickered in and out of existence at all times.  
Ralph heard some screams, coming from behind. Without thinking, he stepped back.  
Back into the dimension.  
He couldn't believe what he saw. The fog of corruption had risen up again, and took the form of a gigantic snake. Each oh his teeth were probably bigger than Ralph himself.

'Run!' Ralph yelled uselessly at the terrified characters who stormed into the remains of Sugar Rush one by one.

The serpent was getting closer. Ralph raised his left arm, accidentally dropping Felix, and tried to build a giant wall to protect everyone.  
The monster broke through it like paper. For a moment, Ralph and the creature made eye contact. The snake opened its mouth, caught Daisy's dress between its teeth, and drew back.  
Ralph tried to run after it, but it was too late. The snake was already so far that he was barely visible.

'Saturday...?' Ralph muttered to himself.

He pulled himself together, grabbed Felix and escaped the dimension once more.  
For the last time.  
Vanellope was leading everyone towards the remains of the exit, glitching here and there to help them jump over gaps and avoid flying debris. She came near him to pick up Calhoun, and left without a word.  
The floor under Ralph's feet was shattering.

'Felix!' He shouted. 'Stop pretending to be dead and fix this mess, or we'll both die!'

Felix wordlessly took out his hammer and hit a few random objects. He was able to fix them temporarily, but they inevitably shattered again afterwards. As for the breach, he was unable to close it.

'I can't do it,' he simply said. 'It's pointless. This game is dead.'

'Don't say that, there's gotta be a way...'

'I'm telling you it's hopeless. Get me out of here.'

Ralph suddenly grew angry.

'What is _wrong_ with you?'

'I'm going to die, and there's nothing I can do to stop it,' Felix replied coldly. 'That's what's wrong with me.'

Ralph slapped him with such strength that he fell on his back. Felix rubbed his shoulder with a shocked expression.

'You hit me! You've never hit me before.'

He then realized Ralph was crying.

'Felix, I... you've always been my hero! I thought you could always fix everything, no matter how hard I screwed up. You gave me strength, you gave me hope, and now... you just give up?'

The floor collapsed under their feet, and both men were thrown in opposite directions. But Felix managed to hold on to Ralph's hand. He didn't know what to think of what he had just heard. They didn't have time to think.

'Wait, I've got an idea!' Felix suddenly exclaimed. 'Turbo was able to access this game's code, right? I can't fix the game in itself, but if you bring me to the code room, I can at least close the breach and keep us safe!'

Ralph lightened up a bit.

'That could work! But we need to get to the castle... wherever it is now...'

Gravity suddenly pulled them back towards a square of ground. Ralph was the first to stand up.

'Get on my back, I'll jump from tile to tile and you scan the sky for remains of the castle!'

'But I've been designed for platform games, I should do all the jumping...'

'Save your strength for the coding room,' Ralph countered. 'It'll probably be worse than here.'

Felix had a hard time believing it. Nothing seemed like it could be worse than Sugar Rush in this very moment. Everything was in shambles, the colors and the proportions were all off, and everything was spinning so fast that it gave him a headache.  
Ralph jumped clumsily from tile to tile, grabbing onto whatever he found. Gravity kept readjusting itself. Felix tried to scan the sky for bits of the castle, but he didn't even know what it was supposed to look like.  
Ralph happened to find it first. There was a huge chunk of the castle flying fifty feet to their left. But when he tried to get to it, gravity reset itself twice, and he found himself falling on a wall that had belonged to the fungeon. He got up, but a jawbreaker hit his leg with a loud crack.

'Ralph!' Felix yelled as the giant dropped him and fell face first onto the wall.

They were completly surrounded, and about to collide against a huge piece of the race track. In a matter of seconds, they would be crushed to death.  
Felix tried to pull Ralph's arm, but he was too heavy.

'Ralph!' He screamed again.

The giant shook, but it was by far too late to avoid the impact.  
The two men exchanged a glance. Their game was going to die, but it didn't matter anymore, because they were going to die together, in the ruins of another one.  
Suddenly, Ralph grabbed Felix with his left hand.

'I'm sorry, Felix. Go without me.'

He threw him in the air as far as he could, one second before the debris crushed him.  
Felix fell onto the floor of the castle's main hall, screaming at the top of his lungs. He had heard the bones crash, he had seen the blood.  
He got back up, and ran.

 

The secret door that led to the game's code had been smashed open. He dived into it, ignoring the mess that unfolded before his eyes. He would take care of it later.  
Ralph had walked into this game, he must have his own box. It had to be in there _somewhere_.  
Felix found it after a few minutes of searching, and hit it with his hammer with a sigh of relief. But he knew there were wounds that even his magic hammer couldn't heal.

***

Ralph woke up because his back was hurting too much. He was lying on something hard. After opening his eyes, he realized he had been sleeping on the floor of game central station. He was alone, but he could see figures walking in the distance.

He felt strange. Like his body didn't entirely belong to him. He tried to sit, but realized it took too much effort and gave up.  
His sight was somewhat blurry. He squinted, but it didn't have any effect. His right eye was itching. He closed the left one.  
Everything danced and shook around him. He opened his left eye back because he felt dizzy. But even with both eyes open, his sight seemed a little off, as if everything was a little too bright.  
It was at this moment that he held his right hand up. It trembled slightly. When he rotated it, little red squares flickered and vanished.  
He had become a glitch.

'Oh look, he's awake! Ralph, how do you feel?'

'Vanellope? What time is it, why aren't you in your game?'

'I decided to take a break to watch over you. My game can work without me, y'know.'

He managed to rest his back against the wall.

'What happened?'

'Everyone is safe and back in their games, and so far things are running smoothly. Felix fixed Sugar Rush and brought you back here. He said he tried to fix you but he couldn't repair all the damage. Do you want a mirror?'

'Why is that necessary?' Ralpk asked, feeling frightened.

'You'll see I guess.'

She ran and brought back an oval-shaped, plastic mirror. It was pink with fancy golden patterns on the sides.

'I borrowed it from that old Barbie game next to the Tetris.'

'Borrowed?' Ralph asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Okay, I stole it. But I'm sure she didn't need it anyway. C'mon lazybutt, stand up!'

He did as he was told, but had to crouch to see his reflection properly.  
The damage was not considerable. Part of his clothes had changed colors. His polo's right side had turned a bright shade of blue and his overalls were partly black. His right hand trembled slightly when he held it up. It was still glitched. Part of his hair had turned white, and his right eye was strangely blank, like all color had been sucked out of it.

'Oh boy,' he muttered. 'But could be worse all things considered.'

'Yeah, it actually looks pretty good on you, y'know?'

He patted her on the head.

'We're both glitches now,' he said with a grin.

She smiled in return.

'Yeah. It's not too bad, you'll see.'

His smile faded.

'But my game...'

'Yeah, it broke while you were asleep. Everyone managed to escape, hopefully. Felix is still a bit shaken, so it'd be cool if you had a word with him.'

'I don't have the courage to face him on my own,' Ralph admitted. 'Could you please... come with me, maybe?'

'I would, but it's... it's your game, Ralph. I dunno what I could say to him. Sorry.'

He nodded, and walked towards the other side of the station, where he could see his colleagues gathered.  
He turned back once, to see Vanellope staring at him.

'Kid, the locket you gave me... the one that says "hero" on it... Daisy broke it. I'm sorry.'

'You care that much about a cookie? I could make you another one, y'know. I could make it better!'

'Thanks, I'd really appreciate.'

He turned once more and walked towards Felix. He found it surprisingly hard. His legs weren't responding the way they used to. The nicelanders cast a few curious glances at him.  
The little handyman was sitting against a wall, gazing in the middle-distance. Ralph awkwardly stood up next to him for a few seconds, until he found the courage to break the silence.

'Hey.'

Felix seem to wake up.

'Oh. Good day, Ralph.'

He stood up quickly and attempted to smile.

'I wanted to, uh...' Ralph started, looking away. 'Thank you for saving my life, yeah.'

'Right! You're welcome of course, it was my duty after all, as you kindly reminded me. I'm sorry that I couldn't fix everything.'

'Nah, don't say that, it's fine. Sure won't do any good to my clumsiness,' he said as he held up his trembling hand, 'but I can't get much worse in any case.

Felix chuckled.

'True, I guess.'

'How's the sergeant? Does she hate me?'

'Tamora is... good I think. She woke up in time for the first quarter alert, and... well, I expected her to be furious, but she seemed rather calm. She said she saw me in a dream, and I helped her or something? If my wife is good, it always makes me happy, so...'

The conversation died. It had been nice, but both men knew the most important subject had been carefully avoided.  
Ralph shrugged.

'Uh, good talk. I'm gonna... go over there. Seeya.'

He waved everyone goodbye, turned around and carefully walked back towards Vanellope.  
But he was interrupted.

'Ralph, wait! I'm sorry about everything I did, back there. In New Liberty. I was scared and I acted without thinking. I'm inexcusable.'

The nicelanders had all gotten to their feet in shock. Their good guy apologizing to their bad guy was something they had never witnessed before.

'Yeah, well, uh... better not talk too much about it,' Ralph replied. 'Might be better for y'all if I forget all that stuff. You don't want me getting angry.'

'Ah, sure. Sorry! Take care.'

Ralph resumed his walk. It was frustratingly hard to put one foot in front of the other. He couldn't even define what made it so difficult. His legs didn't respond the way they used to.  
A flock of characters from all types of games came rushing into the station all at once.  
' _The arcade must be closing,_ ' Ralph thought.

'Hey Ralph!' Mario greeted him cheerfully. 'Heard about your poor game. We offered Felix to join us in _Super Mario brothers_ , because you know, now that Daisy is gone, we need a fourth character for the multiplayer roster, but if you want a job, we can probably make room for you too! Bowser could use a companion, for one thing.'

'Wow, really? Felix is going to work with you guys? That's awesome!'

'Yeah, we just need to adjust the code a bit, and the game will incorporate him, so he can regenarate if he dies! Amazing, right?'

'Sure! Well uh, thanks for the offer, I'll think about it.'

Mario waved him goodbye and went away, taking Peach by the hand. Ralph noticed that she had been staring at him coldly during the whole exchange. It was predictable that she would be upset, after all. He shrugged and kept going.

'Oh hey Ralph!' Someone shouted cheerfully from behind him.

'Ah, uh... hi Zangief!' He answered anxiously.

The wrestler gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

'Heard about your game going down! A real shame. But if you want to, you could always join us in _Street fighter!_ 'Cause from what I hear, you're one heck of a fighter, and I'd _love_ to have my revenge on you someday.'

Zangief gave him a wild, toothy grin and winked.

'Yeah, thanks man, I... I'll think about it.'

He had an uncomfortable smile and took another step.

'Good day Ralph. How are you doing?'

Ralph was starting to think he was never going to reach Vanellope if he kept being interrupted like that.

'Good day, prince Marth. Are you here to invite me to work in _Smash bros_?'

'I intended to, yes. I haven't forgotten that you are the one who gave Q*bert and his friends shelter when their game was unplugged, so I thought I would offer you the same thing now that you are in need.'

'That's real kind of you, I'll think about it!'

It took him seven seconds to be accosted by someone again. Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun was staring at him silently. She was smiling.

'Uh, hi.'

'Hello there, Wreck-it. You look terrible.'

'Thanks. I wanted to say I'm sorry about the whole... backstory thing. It was really uncool.'

She raised an eyebrow.

'That was _your_ idea? You're much smarter than I thought. Almost devilish.'

He winced.

'Sorry. I really didn't want to do it, I swear.'

She laughed.

'Don't be such a scaredy cat. I was actually impressed. Looking back, I don't think there was any other way you could've beaten me. It was cruel, sure. But I broke your arm, after all.'

He sighed in relief, feeling like a weight had been lifted.

'I must ask, though. Who told you what happens _after_ my backstory? No way you could have guessed that on your own.'

'Promise you won't beat him up if I tell you?' Ralph asked cautiously.

'Sure.'

'Well, believe it or not, but Markowski and I have been hanging out quite a lot despite our... rough debut.'

'Seriously? _Him_? After you locked him into a cupboard and stole his armor, too.'

'Yeah, that's what started it. I wanted to apologize for stealing his armor, so I offered him a drink. We've been hanging out regularly after that, and now we're buds.'

'Wow. Who knew.'

'My turn to ask a question!'

'Fire ahead, soldier.'

'In the end, did you ever catch the guy who wrote the messages on the floor of the central station?'

'Oh right, we did. It was Tapper.'

' _Tapper?!'_

'Yeah. Can't say I blame him. He's got to be the only one that works as much during the night as he does during the day.'

Ralph reflected on this.

'True. I should offer to replace him, every once in a while. Can't be all that hard.'

'With your hand like this?'

'Oh, right.'

'I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought.'

'No he won't.'

'True. Well then, I have a husband to cheer up, so I'll be on my way. Oh, and if you need work, _Hero's duty_ could always use a spare soldier.'

He blinked.

'You're asking _me_ to join _Hero's duty_?'

'A week ago it would have sounded ridiculous, but after all you did in New Liberty, my opinion of you has changed. You've got balls, Wreck-it.'

'Uh... thanks.'

'No, I mean it. You showed true determination back there. I gotta respect that. That's why I think you'd make a great soldier.'

'Yeah but I hate violence,' Ralph muttered shamefully.

'Seriously? That's hilarious!'

She laughed again and trailed off.  
Ralph resumed his awkward walking until he finally met Vanellope again.

'I'm back.'

'How's Felix?'

'Could be worse. He's been offered a replacement job in Mario bros.'

'Cool. You know, when I offered you to live in the castle a few weeks ago, well, it still stands. There's way too much space for only one person to live in anyway.'

'Thanks kid. I'll probably do that.'

'Besides, you can watch the races if you ever get bored during the day!'

'I doubt I will ever have time to get bored,' Ralph replied, thinking about all the job offers he had received.

There was a moment of silence.

'Say, what happened after I left you to look after Saturday?' Vanellope asked. 'In Daisy's office. You said she broke my cookie, but uh... why would she do that?'

'Ah yeah, she tried to kill me. Breaking the medal was only a side-consequence.'

'Sweet sister of whipped cream, say that again? She tried to _murder_ you?'

'Yeah. She said she could build a replacement Ralph anyway, so no one would ever find out.'

'She went full crazy mode, that woman! No one is ever gonna believe you though.'

'I know.'

She looked at him apprehensively.

'Are you still upset about Saturday?'

'...yeah, of course I am. Weather he was real or not, the kid really _liked_ me. And... I know how bad this sounds, but he called me his dad, and well... that felt nice.'

Vanellope looked pensive for a moment.

'I know I can't ever replace him, but... there's something I wanted to tell you.'

'You want me to be your dad too?' He asked, sounding a bit too excited.

'What? No! I mean, c'mon, you said yourself that you'd be terrible at raising a child. Besides, I don't need raising.'

'You're right, yeah, of course. Sorry.'

'No offense, right? I don't really see you as a father figure. More like an awkward big brother actually. So if that's fine with you...'

'You want us to be siblings?' He asked, the excitement back in his voice.

'Yeah? I guess? It's no big deal, I just thought it would be nice.'

'Yes yes, I love it!'

He tried a little victory dance, but tripped and fell on his back. Vanellope laughed at him as he got back up.

'Okay, now jump here, lil' sister!' He shouted cheerfully as he pointed to his shoulder.

'We have a cookie to bake.'

 

 

 

 

**Author's note : Yup, this is the end. Hope you enjoyed this fic! I know I have left plenty of elements that could be used in a sequel (Ralph's new powers, the fact that Daisy isn't actually dead, etc), but for now it isn't part of my plans to continue. Unless I receive a flood of prayers to keep going, I probably won't.**

**But I have other plans for Wreck-it Ralph stuff, so if you're interested in that, you might wanna stick around. Just sayin'**

**That's all folks! Have a great day.**


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